It is definitely not business as usual for the western media these days. There is a mix of "white man" arrogance and ignorance. As the Covid Tsunami builds up crisis for India; western press targets their favourite punching bag - Namo - Narendra Modi.
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| The 2 Punching Bags ? |
To them, Modi represents - the spirited Hindutva icon and that same good old parochial Gujarati of 2002.
Thus came some headlines - 'Modi Flounders' (The Times) and 'The System Has Collapsed' elsewhere in 'The Guardian'.
One Australian paper wrote "arrogance, hyper-nationalism and bureaucratic incompetence" have landed India into a "crisis of epic proportions". The 'Financial Times' said the latest wave was “sparking a health crisis and human tragedy in India that is far surpassing anything seen last year.”
'The Washington Post' reported dutifully -- “In some cities, crematoriums are running their furnaces round the clock.”
In fact, India's Deputy High Commissioner P S Karthigeyan has issued a rejoinder to 'The Australian' Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore calling the newspaper article as "baseless, malicious and slanderous".
"Coverage of such motivated and malicious reports in your publication only helps in spreading falsehoods and undermining humanity's common fight against the pandemic".
The deputy envoy of course also said: "....we are confident that the surge will be contained".
BBC also carried a story saying, "Did election rallies help spread virus?"
The 'Wall Street Journal' did not waste time to describe India as the “ground zero for the pandemic.”
In most of these reporting, the blame guy was Prime Minister Modi, while on ground it is known that though there were lapses by the centre; state governments also had their roles and so did common people and their utter disregard to Covid protocols and precautions.
The western media's abhorrence of Modi is not new. In April 2014, a month before he was actually sworn in as India's Prime Minister, 'The Economist' in its edit had written - "He (Modi) will probably become India’s next prime minister. That does not mean he should be".
In fact, there is a school of thought in India which says the Hindu population in the country never got justice from national politics and even likes of Communists and Mamata Banerjee while the Hindus have been mostly looked down upon by world media.
There are some interesting tales associated with the politics of Hindutva, protagonists like Narendra Modi and the beheviour of western media.
To many, Modi may not be just a pro-Hindu leader. He is perhaps the embodiment of anti-neo-colonial and anti-Christian too. For last 300 years and more, India has been trying to ape the west and the colonisers have always rejoiced in it. But Modi has backed the idea of 'modernisation' instead of westernisation.
Even Indian Left apparently encouraged aping the west. Thus in Modi's rise came a cult figure who would mark a new beginning towards the end of three-century old 'mental colonization'.
Moreover, in general the western media's treatment of Asia and especially India has been loaded with prejudice elements. Their coverage of 'Kashmir terrorism' is different from something like that in their part of the world. Has Indian or even the Chinese media really blasted the 'right-wing bigotry, gun culture and drug abuses' in America at the scale the western media does for this part of the world.
On this front, even Chinese side often complains that the west cannot see a "rising China". Of course, a 'rising Modi' too could not be tolerated.
In fact, a visible anti-India slant has been there in the past as well. There is generally a tendency in the western press to create a hype while covering the issues related to religious minorities.
In 2019, just during election season, 'Time' magazine said Modi is "Divider in chief'.
In 2020, during Lockdown, one headline ran - "....desperate millions hit by Modi's brutal Lockdown". In 2021 also we have a series of Lockdown, night curfew in Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka; the western media has virtually endorsed them as something 'expected'.
Last year, during Donald Trump's visit and which coincided with mayhem in the streets of Delhi; CEO of Prasar Bharati, Shashi Shekhar Vempati had said coverage of the Delhi riots by BBC was one-sided and “damningly silent” on attacks on policemen and the brutal murder of an Indian Intelligence Bureau official.
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| Indo-US partnership |
There are deliberate and repeated attempts to 'underplay' India's diplomatic success - be it be under Indira Gandhi or under Narendra Modi. Even post second wave crisis, the US decision finally to supply raw materials for medical purposes is actually a major win for New Delhi.
The US initially sat over it, and delayed taking a decision. Later it agreed to "rapidly" deploy support for India. Was it not a success of India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar who had tweeted saying, multilateralism needs to be practised and not merely 'preached'.
Will one western press report that Joe Biden had to ultimately 'surrender' and reverse the ban on exports.
But India will remember this 'delay' - I presume, and it should.
It's one of those things that ought to come - like a birthday greeting. But the point is US and India are 'strategic partners' and for New Delhi, the illustrious friend's good wishes card came late- even after not so warm friends like China and Pakistan had done their part.
"Sometimes a friend appreciates you making the effort even if it can barely stanch the bleeding. It’s time to be the friend we (the US) profess to be to the Indian people," ran a tweet.
Where is western media? Time matters, Mr Biden; and the western press gaze in thine own heart at times.
ends 
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Predicament in Indo-US ties over defence pact with Russia :: Indo Pacific and an expansionist China
Nothing happens in diplomacy without reasons. Even if there is a pause between two nations or some kind of a lull - please remember there is either provocation or strategic reason behind it, and sometimes both.
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| Photo: Warontherocks.com |
The American leadership under Joe Biden - mind you, it's "not Modi-friendly Republican under Donald Trump" - lately delayed taking a decision to help India during the peak of Covid crisis. This was happening between friends. However, now that there is a 'delayed' decision, we all should welcome it.
But at the same, the Indian foreign policy engine room - the PMO, the NSA's office and Foreign Ministry under Dr S Jaishankar would do well to keep this in mind. And they must be analysing things minutely.
Kenneth Juster, former US envoy to India, says the Biden administration is now faced with a "predicament" vis-a-vis its relations with the Narendra Modi-led regime over New Delhi's plans to purchase five Russian S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems. The predicament is understood, but it has perhaps reached a peak stage now.
Juster says, the Biden administration could be possibly even thinking over the pros and cons of imposing 'sanctions on India' for its planned purchase of the Russian missiles. But crucially in a piece for 'Warontherocks.com,', he says, "the U.S.-Indian partnership is now critical to promoting a free, open, and stable Indo-Pacific region and resisting the threat of an expansionist China".
"But the cloud of sanctions has hovered over the relationship since August 2017, when United States enacted the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act".
In the meantime, there is also argument that the US has its compulsions to help India in this time of crisis. According to Vipin Narang from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "It is in the US’s and Biden Admin’s self-interest to assist India through its hellish crisis because all of our (American) vaccination efforts will be for naught when India’s uncontrolled spread generates a variant that escapes those vaccines".
Of course in retrospect, it is worth recall that there has been much fanfare in Indo-US ties and especially the personal bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump.
There were public and unprecedented worldview display of the same in the grand 'Namaste Trump' in Ahmedabad and 'Howdy Modi' in Houston. However, there were other stories too.
Trump's immigration policies have hurt Indians, who are the largest beneficiaries of the highly skilled category of H1B visas. Critics said, Trump never pushed for India’s permanent seat at the UN Security Council; something Democrats said Barack Obama did. And even Joe Biden had one his part as the US Vice President.
Trump also had allegedly threatened India with retaliation if India did not share its stock of hydroxychloroquine in 2020.
But the Democrats when got 'busy' wooing Indians in America eyeing their large chunk of votes, also pointed out that Joe Biden would be a reasonable global leader vis-a-vis long term interests of India.
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