The White House on Tuesday (June 27) reacted to a question asked about the alleged harassment faced by The Wall Street journalist Sabrina Siddiqui and called the online trolls against her as “unacceptable”. Journalist Sabrina Siddiqui had asked a pressing question of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his government's human rights record in India during the joint presser conducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden during PM Modi's state visit to the US from June 20-23.
“We’re aware of the reports of that harassment. It’s unacceptable, and we absolutely condemn any harassment of journalists anywhere under any circumstances,” said John Kirby, White House spokesperson on national security issues. “That’s just completely unacceptable, and it’s antithetical to the principles of democracy that were on display last week during the state visit,” he added.
Journalist had tweeted
Earlier, journalist Sabrina had tweeted, "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."
Question to PM Modi during the press conference
PM Narendra Modi was asked at the press conference about the "rights of Muslims" in India and steps taken by the Modi government to uphold free speech in the United States. PM Modi had answered the question saying, "India is world's largest democracy and that democracy was part of US and India's DNA."
"Our Constitution and our government, India has proved democracy can deliver. When I say deliver – religion, gender,caste, creed, there is no space for any discrimination,” PM Modi had told reporters. The report of PM Narendra Modi holding a press conference with US President Joe Biden in the White House had made news all over, considering that PM Modi had held only one press conference since becoming the Prime Minister nine years ago.
