Jaishankar said, “I think the way facts are slanted, things are laid out. What is right, and what is wrong is confusing. This is actually politics at work.”
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar slammed American Media including The Washington Post for its biased coverage of India. He said that those who believe that they were the custodians and the shapers of India lost ground in India.
Addressing a gathering of Indian-Americans from across the country Jaishankar said, “I look at the media. You know, there are some newspapers you know, exactly, what they are going to write including one in this town.”
The prestigious Washington Post is the national daily published in Washington DC. It is currently owned by Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
Responding to a question on the increase in “anti-Indian forces” External Affairs Minister said, “My point is there are biases, there are efforts really, to determine… Look, the more India goes its way and the people who believe that they were the custodians and the shapers of India lose ground in India the more actually, some of these debaters gonna come outside.”
“Such groups are not winning India. They will try and win outside or try and shape India from outside,” he added.
He further asserted this is something that we need to be aware of. It is important to contest.
On being questioned about the misrepresentation of the Kashmir issue he said if there is a terrorist incident, it doesn’t matter what faith the person who’s killed belongs to. If there are Indian soldiers or Indian policemen being abducted if there are people working for the government, or citizens going about their business, who will lose their lives?
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“How often do you hear people talking about it; pronouncing it, in fact, look at the media coverage. What does the media cover? what does the media not cover?,” the External Affairs Minister asked.
He further emphasized that this is how one’s opinions and perceptions are shaped.
Jaishankar said that there is a big song and dance about the Internet being cut. Now, if you’ve reached the stage where you say an Internet cut is more dangerous than the loss of human lives, then what can I say?
He terms this as politics at work. He said, “If you look at A (Article) 370-issue. What was a temporary provision of the Constitution was finally put to rest this was supposed to be an act of majority. This was supposed to be majoritarian. Tell me what was happening in Kashmir was not majoritarian? I think the way facts are slanted, things are laid out. What is right, and what is wrong is confusing. This is actually politics at work.”
He further accentuated that we should not let it go. We should contest it. We should educate. We should shape the narrative. This is a competitive world. We need to get our messages out. That is my message to you,” he said.
“We are not serving our country well or our beliefs well, or even our sense of what is right and wrong by staying out of these debates. I think we have opinions we must express them we must share it with people, and we must educate others on what is right and what is wrong.
“I honestly believe that if you look at the whole 370, the Jammu and Kashmir situation, to me, it’s mind-boggling. Something whose merits were so obvious, should actually there even be people who would think a different way,” Jaishankar said.
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