The White House has issued a strong condemnation of the alleged online harassment directed towards Sabrina Siddiqui, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), who faced backlash for her inquiry into Prime Minister Modi’s stance on human rights concerns.
The White House has vehemently denounced the online harassment faced by a Wall Street Journal journalist who raised concerns about the rights of religious minorities during a joint press conference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington on June 22. John Kirby, the spokesperson for the US National Security Council, expressed that the reported harassment is completely unacceptable and goes against the fundamental principles of democracy that were prominently displayed during PM Modi’s recent state visit.
Kirby stated during a press briefing on Monday, that such behavior was entirely unacceptable and contradicted the very essence of democracy.
During his first state visit to the United States, PM Modi engaged in a rare occurrence by taking questions from reporters during a joint press conference held at the White House alongside President Biden. At this event, a question was posed by a White House correspondent named Sabrina Siddiqui regarding the rights of religious minorities in India. Siddiqui asked Modi that numerous human rights organizations claim that his government has marginalized religious minorities and attempted to suppress its critics. She added, what measures he and his government government are willing to undertake to enhance the rights of Muslims and other minority groups in your country, while upholding freedom of speech?
In response, the Prime Minister expressed his astonishment at the question and replied in Hindi, saying that India’s democratic values are rooted in the absence of any discrimination based on caste, creed, age, or geographical location.
Furthermore, he added, that India is undeniably a democracy. As President Biden also mentioned, democracy is ingrained in the DNA of both India and America. It is their spirit, it courses through their veins. They embody democracy.
Subsequently, Siddiqui has been subjected to online trolling across various social media platforms.
