Days after netizens questioned Pakistani-origin American ‘journalist’ Sabrina Siddiqui for insinuating that the rights of Muslims and other minorities are under threat in India, the White House came out in her defence on Monday (June 26)
Siddiqui, who works for The Wall Street Journal, attempted to undermine the India-US relationship during the joint press conference of President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
She asked a politically motivated question to the Indian Prime Minister in the hopes of reinforcing the distorted narrative of Muslims being ‘under attack in India.’ Despite a befitting reply by PM Modi, Indian social media users were aghast at Siddiqui for peddling her sinister agenda.
#WATCH | "We are a democracy…India & America both have democracy in our DNA. Democracy is in our spirit & we live it and it's written in our Constitution…So no question of discrimination on the grounds of caste, creed or religion arises. That is why, India believes in sabka… pic.twitter.com/orVkCVkLLf
— ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2023
The criticism directed at her further intensified when the likes of Alt News co-founder tried to pass her off as an ‘Indian’ based on the fact that she is the great-great-granddaughter of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, one of the earliest proponents of the two-nation theory.
Her ancestry and ‘identity’ were called into question when she tried to project herself as a ‘patriotic Indian’, based on her support for the Indian cricket team. This was despite being born in the United States to a Pakistani mother and an Indian father, who was raised in Pakistan.
On being faced with legitimate questions for peddling the dubious’ Muslims under attack in India’ narrative, Sabrina Siddiqui cried foul over the matter.
Since some have chosen to make a point of my personal background, it feels only right to provide a fuller picture. Sometimes identities are more complex than they seem. pic.twitter.com/Huxbmm57q8
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) June 24, 2023
The Wall Street Journal and its scribes also threw their weight behind Sabrina Siddiqui, presenting the social media criticism as a case of ‘press freedom’ and supposed harassment of ‘Muslim journalist.’
NEW: The White House is pushing back forcefully against those who are harassing @SabrinaSiddiqui for asking PM Modi a fair and straightforward question about human rights last week.
— Andrew Restuccia (@AndrewRestuccia) June 26, 2023
NSC’s John Kirby calls it “completely unacceptable” and antithetical to Democracy
During a press briefing on Monday (June 26), Senior White House Correspondent (NBC News) Kelly O’Donnell claimed, “At the question-and-answer event with the president and Prime Minister Modi, our colleague, Sabrina Siddiqui of The Wall Street Journal, asked a question of the prime minister and since that time she has been subjected to some intense online harassment from people inside India.”
“Some of them are politicians, and they have associations with the Modi government. And in part, they’ve been targeting her because of her Muslim faith and questioning her own heritage,” she alleged.
Kelly O’Donnell further added, “Because this was supposed to be about democracy in some form, wanted to find out: what is the White House reaction to the fact that a journalist posing a question to a Democratic leader is getting that kind of pushback?
Here's John Kirby's full comments, in response to a question from @KellyO pic.twitter.com/gHsL5Y7u1E
— Andrew Restuccia (@AndrewRestuccia) June 26, 2023
John Kirby, who serves as the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council (NSC) in the White House, agreed to the claims of the NBC News correspondent.
He remarked, “We’re aware of the reports of that harassment. It’s unacceptable, and we absolutely condemn any harassment of journalists anywhere under any circumstances.” “
“That’s just, that’s completely unacceptable, and it’s antithetical to the very principles of democracy that that you’re right, we’re on display last week, during the state visit,” Kirby further claimed.
Problem with the White House’s response & antics of Wall Street Journal
The sweeping statement of the White House attempts to label criticism, aimed at Sabrina Siddiqui for the virtue of her politically motivated question, as ‘harassment of journalist.’
It fails to acknowledge the concerns that Indian netizens raised about the WSJ journalist’s choice of question. It also fails to address the apprehensions that Indians harbour towards leftist Western publications such as The Wall Street Journal due to their continued and targeted anti-India propaganda.
In February 2020, the American daily falsely claimed that the frenzied mob, which murdered Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots, was chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ WSJ misquoted the deceased’s brother Ankur Sharma to make the misleading claims.
Multiple eyewitnesses had corroborated that the deceased was dragged by an enraged Muslim mob from inside the house of AAP leader Mohammad Tahir Hussain and subsequently killed by them.
In conversation with PBNS, Ankur Sharma, Brother of killed IB official discredited @WSJ report, "I never gave such a statement to Wall Street Journal. This is a ploy to defame my brother and my family. Wall Street Journal is lying."#DelhiViolence pic.twitter.com/0peViwzkjE
— Prasar Bharati News Services & Digital Platform (@PBNS_India) February 28, 2020
In December of that year, The Wall Street Journal published a fake report claiming that Facebook did not act against Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), despite deeming its content as offensive.
In March 2021, the American newspaper was pulled up for falsely reporting that the Indian government had threatened employees of Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter with jail terms.
In October last year, WSJ carried a full-page advertisement, urging the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and ten other Indians. It is thus obvious that Indians will critically analyse the pursuits of a journalist, associated with such a newspaper.
The antics of Sabrina Siddiqui during the joint press conference of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden made things worse. She clearly showed that she certainly did not have the best interests of India at heart.
The Pakistani-origin journalist cunningly raked up the issue of the ‘treatment of Muslims and minorities in India’ to give the impression that those groups are being ill-treated here. This narrative is a part of the larger leftist-Islamist imagination of ‘‘Dara hua Musalman.’’
Sabrina Siddiqui tried her best to sour the press conference with an ill-intentioned question and thus drew the ire of the Indian public. She is now being supported by the likes of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), known for its ties with radical outfit Jamaat-e-Islami.
The White House is now lashing out at the Indian public and mouthing platitudes on free speech and democracy. Interestingly, the incumbent US President Joe Biden had humiliated journalists on multiple occasions (to the extent of calling a Fox News journalist – the son of a bitch).
While the White House did not bat an eye then, it is now getting worked up over average Indian citizens questioning the motives of a Pakistani-origin American journalist.
