India on Press Freedom After PM Skips Questions
oslo [Norway]: Replying to a question on press freedom and human rights in India on Monday (local time), the Ministry of External Affairs noted the scale and diversity of the country’s media landscape and stated that many people misunderstand India after reading reports published by “ignorant NGOs”.
Addressing a press conference here, MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George had a tense exchange with a journalist and underlined the wide reach of India’s media ecosystem.
“You know how many stories there are here. How many breaking news stories come in the evening every day. In Delhi alone, at least 200 TV channels, in English, Hindi and many languages. People don’t know the scale of India. People have no understanding. They read one or two news stories published by some godforsaken, ignorant NGOs and then come and ask questions,” he said.
MEA Secretary (West) said that the Constitution of India guarantees the fundamental rights of all citizens and provides legal remedies in case of rights violations.
Emphasizing India’s democratic values, he said that the country has provided equal voting rights to women since the time of independence.
George also said India believes in equality and human rights, adding that the right to vote and change government remains the strongest example of democratic freedom.
“We have a Constitution that guarantees the rights of the people, the fundamental rights of the people. We have equal rights for women in our country and this is very important. In 1947, we gave the freedom to vote to our women. We won freedom together and they earned it themselves. In many countries, the right to vote for women came a few decades after India gave this freedom,” he said.
“Because we believe in equality, we believe in human rights. So what is the best example of human rights? The right to change the government, the right to vote. That’s what’s happening in India. We’re very proud of that,” he added.
Earlier, a Norwegian journalist had criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not accepting questions during the interaction and said that he was not surprised by the decision.
“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not accept my question, I did not expect it.
Norway ranks first in the World Press Freedom Index, while India ranks 157th, competing with Palestine, the Emirates and Cuba.
One journalist, Helle Lyng, wrote on social media: It is our job to question the forces with which we cooperate.
