New Delhi: It is not just about the BBC. There has never been any love lost between the foreign media and the Indian right, led by the most popular head of state across the world, Narendra Modi. Conversely, the world media—at least the torch bearers of it—loves the left-Congress ecosystem.
Another fact is that the global media has never come out of its orientalist ignorance about India. India cannot be the locus of any positive modern outlook of its own, is how the goggled Western media has always ogled at India.
These are truisms. One cannot ignore when the global media toyed with India and its government during the Delhi Riots in the wake of the anti-CAA disturbances. Misreporting in the events of the riots was the hallmark of the Western press, especially in the case of the brutal murder of intelligence officer Ankit Sharma.
While the BBC documentary on the Indian prime minister was just one more instance of the anti-India mentality of the popular Western media mindscape, the way the global press has come out to defend Rahul Gandhi against his conviction in the criminal defamation case over maligning the ‘Modi surname’ is just fantastic.
All journalistic ethics, professed so vehemently by these very media outlets, was thrown in the dustbin to give full sway to ideological bias that deliberately disrespected Indian law and courts as well.
Moreover, while Gandhi was punished as per law, then disqualified as per law, the impression these media houses tried to peddle was that the Gandhi scion was victimised by the all-powerful PM Modi.
Just a look at the headlines of a few of the better known global media houses in the matter will reveal their bias, not needing any logical reasoning at all.
Sky News carried an article, titled, ‘Rahul Gandhi: Indian MP sentenced to two years in prison for defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’.
The famed Guardian carried a similar headline, as if part of a toolkit. It said: ‘Rahul Gandhi found guilty of defaming Narendra Modi’.
The New York Times said: “Rahul Gandhi, who leads the main opposition party, received a two-year sentence for a comment in 2019 criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi” as the description to its article on the issue. (Italics mine).
The Washington Post wrote: “An Indian court on Thursday sentenced Rahul Gandhi, leader of the largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, and a scion of past prime ministers, to two years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech at a 2019 campaign rally.” (Emphasis mine)
Now, what could be the reason for this misreporting? The case was not filed by the prime minister. It was filed by a private individual, though related to the ruling BJP. The complainant felt bad at Rahul Gandhi’s hurtful remarks that maligned an entire community, an OBC community that uses the surname ‘Modi’.
Plaintiff Purnesh Modi had said: “I belong to the Modhwanik Ghanchi community which bears the Modi surname. The defamatory statements of Rahul Gandhi had hurt our sentiments.”
Where is PM Modi in all this? The case was not about defaming the prime minister at all, and yet the Western press tried to paint it that way.
Let us come to Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament, consequent to the law of the land that lays down that any lawmaker who is sentenced to two or more years in jail automatically loses his/her membership of the house.
The Guardian’s article was titled: ‘Indian opposition leader expelled from parliament after defamation conviction’.
Mark the word “expelled” used instead of “disqualification”; mark the attempt at creating a discourse opposed to the facts.
The New York Times carried an article on the issue, titled, ‘Expelling Rahul Gandhi From Parliament, Modi Allies Thwart a Top Rival’.
Once again look at the suggestion: Rahul Gandhi was “expelled”, not disqualified as per law.
The Washington Post too followed the same script, and therefore, the choice of words remains the same. Its article was titled, ‘India’s top opposition leader Gandhi expelled from Parliament after conviction’.
One cannot, but conclude that there seems to be an anti-Modi, anti-India and pro-left pro-Congress toolkit in action.
These are just some of the examples. If one were to just scour through the Internet and see western publications, almost all use the same terminology, suggesting that Rahul Gandhi has been wronged, that he is the victim of some witch-hunt. Conversely, the attempt is to paint PM Modi as having scripted a major conspiracy to wipe out some very powerful adversary.
Even those sympathising with Rahul Gandhi in India are not going to the extent of positing him as a threat to the BJP or the prime minister.
And, yes, last I checked, “expelled” has finally given way to “kicked out”.
If not ideological bias, then the Ministry of External Affairs of India must give these media houses a crash course in Indian law and politics when they can give one to the Taliban.
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