White House condemns 'online harassment' of US journalist of South Asian origin who questioned Modi on minority rights

THE White House has slammed what the Wall Street Journal has described as an "intense online harassment" of its reporter Sabrina Siddiqui who has asked Indian prime minister Narendra Modi a question on his country's democracy and the state of minority rights there during a joint press conference with US president Joe Biden in Washington DC on June 22.

She had asked the Indian leader, "What steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and to uphold free speech?"

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council in the White House, while responding to a question from the WSJ on its reporter allegedly facing backlash online, said the White House was "aware of the reports of the harassment".

According to the WSJ, Siddiqui has faced "some intense harassment from people inside India" ever since she posed the question to Modi. The publication also said that she was being targeted partly because of her faith.

Speaking on the matter, Kirby said, "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 - you're right - were on display last week during the state visit."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said following Kirby's statement that under the Biden administration, they are committed to freedom of press and condemned efforts of intimidation or harassment of any journalist for doing their job.

"I just want to reiterate a little bit what John said - we're certainly here at the White House under this administration, we are committed to freedom of the Press, which is why we had the press conference last week. So just want to remind folks, that's why we had the press conference last week. Also, we certainly condemn any efforts of intimidation or harassment of any journalist that is just trying to do their job," Jean-Pierre added, NDTV reported.

Modi said in response to Siddiqui's question that there was no space for discrimination in India on the basis of caste, creed and religion since the government followed the country's Constitution.

"I am surprised at what you said. We are a democracy. Democracy is in our spirit, and flows in our veins. We live and breathe democracy. And it is in our Constitution," he said.

Amit Malviya, head of the information technology cell of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said in a tweet, "Prime Minister Modi completely destroyed the motivated question on steps being taken to 'protect' rights of Muslims and other minorities. In his response he didn't mention Muslims or any other denomination, spoke about Constitution, access to Government resources based on eligibility and no discrimination based on caste, creed, religion or geography... After President Biden's cold response to a similar question, this was another blow to the toolkit gang," tweeted Amit Malviya, the head of BJP's IT cell.

Responding to criticism directed at her online, Siddiqui shared photos of her wearing the jersey of the Indian cricket team and cheering the players with her father, who was born in India.

"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," she wrote in the tweet.

Former US president Barack Obama also faced a strong backlash after remarking during a TV interview that India might "pull apart" if its minority rights are not respected. Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back at him, saying it was under his presidency that the US had bombed six Muslim-dominated nations.