![]() ![]() Dozens are facing criminal prosecution, including for sedition. In recent years, journalists have been arrested and some are stopped from traveling abroad. India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, dismissed the report’s claims at an event last month. “With an average of three or four journalists killed in connection with their work every year, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media,” the report said. The organization cited violence against journalists and a partisan media landscape as reasons that “press freedom is in crisis in the world’s largest democracy.” The country fell 11 places, to 161 out of 180 countries, in this year’s Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders. The decline in press freedom didn’t start with Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, but it’s increased. Modi’s action, Mukhopadhyay said, “allows him to project an image as a more reasonable and democratic leader abroad, while he continues to evade press conferences at home, where he has scant regard for press freedom.” President Joe Biden is honoring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a state visit Thursday as the leaders of the world’s two biggest democracies are looking to strengthen the crucial but complicated relationship between their countries. He suggested that Modi should not get much credit for any press conference in Washington if only a few questions were allowed. “His silences are legendary – he has never asked people to refrain from sectarian violence,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of a Modi biography. He has also not commented on current ethnic violence roiling India’s remote northeast, where at least 100 people have died since May. He uses these platforms to highlight government programs, inaugurate infrastructure projects and express condolences when an accident or tragedy strikes.īut Modi has often remained silent on polarizing incidents, including when religious minorities have faced attacks by Hindu nationalists. Modi is active on social media where hundreds of millions follow him, hosts a monthly radio program where he directly connects with listeners, and often makes big speeches. However, Modi has loosened up a little in the company of American counterparts.Įight years ago, when President Barack Obama visited India, Modi answered questions from two reporters, including one from The Associated Press. ![]()
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