Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday strongly rebuffed an opinion piece published in The New York Times about freedom of the press in Kashmir, saying “some foreign media are nourishing a grudge against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
In a series of tweets, Thakur said that the US newspaper had “long back dropped all pretensions of neutrality" when publishing anything about India.
“Some foreign media nourishing a grudge against India and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have long been systematically trying to peddle lies about our democracy and pleuritic society. Freedom of Press in India is as sacrosanct as other fundamental rights,” Thakur tweeted.
Terming the opinion piece titled “Modi’s Final Assault on India’s Press Freedom Has Begun” as mischievous and fictitious, the federal minister said it was published with the sole motive to spread propaganda about India and its democratic institutions and values.
The Indian minister said that the lies spread by the newspaper and other likeminded foreign media about India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi won’t last long.
Stating that democracy in India and the people of the country are very mature and don’t need to learn how democracy works from agenda-driven media, the minister added: “Indians will not allow such mindsets to run their decisive agenda on India soil.”
The Indian minister's reaction came two days after The New York Times published an opinion piece by Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir-based newspaper The Kashmir Times.
In the opinion piece, Bhasin accused the Modi-led federal government of "repressive media policies," "intimidation of Kashmir media outlets," and creating an "information vacuum" in Jammu and Kashmir.