Some Indian journalists are perpetually on the lookout to criticise India. Even when the occasion demands otherwise, they somehow manage to disparage the country. One such individual is Nirupama Subramanian, a journalist at the Indian Express.
Recently, Bhutanese journalist Tenzing Lamsang lavished praises on India for its efforts to combat the menace of COVID-19. Quoting a tweet posted by the official Twitter account of the Indian Express which discussed how India has been playing a pivotal role in helping the world in the global health crisis through its vaccination policies, Lamsang replied in the affirmative, stating that had it been a European country, it would have held back its vaccine exports until all of its citizens had been vaccinated.
Lamsang, who is the editor of The Bhutanese, ascribed India’s generosity to its timeless civilisational and cultural ethos. “I think it is the timeless civilisational and cultural ethos of India to help others even when it is in need. A noble quality,” Lamsang said in the tweet.
However, no sooner did Lamsang appreciated India’s contribution to the global fight against COVID-19, Nirupama Subramanian descended on his timeline to denigrate India. Responding to Lamsang’s tweet, “Wish India would show the same large-heartedness in other matters, such as Rohingya.”
Just for the sake of criticising India, Nirupama connected seemingly disparate issues of India’s contribution in battling the COVID-19 pandemic and the Rohingya refugee crisis. She could not bring herself to praise India and its government for spearheading the COVID-19 vaccination programme and helping nations in their fight against the pandemic. All she could post is a rueful tweet, bewailing that the Indian government has not displayed the same magnanimity in other matters, such as the Rohingya issue.
It seems that praising India and appreciating the good policy decisions taken by the Modi government is a tall order for the journalists such as Nirupama and her ilk. Ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, some of the journalists have found it incredibly difficult to stomach the reality of a non-Congress government at the Centre. Since then, these folks are spoiling for painting the country in a bad light to discredit the central government.
So consumed are they with hatred for the Centre that it has overpowered their rational thinking. For them there lies no distinction between the criticism of the country and the criticism of its leadership. Be it belittling the nation or denouncing its policies, everything is acceptable if it is serving to discredit the central government.
As for the Rohingyas, they are deemed as a security threat by the government and it is not a wise policy decision, both nationally and globally, to naturalise and support elements that are inimical to a nation’s security.
