Exclusive/ Arnab's Big Western Media Expose With Swapan Dasgupta | Exclusive

New Delhi: As the longest-ever elections got underway in the world's largest democracy – India, the so-called news publications and media outlets in the West are seemingly having a really hard time minding their own business, with every second supposedly liberal Western publication jumping in – as self-proclaimed “players in the Indian elections” at the first opportunity they get –  to not only meddle in the country's internal affairs, but also in their desperate yet failed bids to set a narrative that may be well-suited to their interests. 

So, what is the facade all about? Former Rajya Sabha MP and veteran journalist Swapan Dasgupta in an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami on Super Primetime Max, Tuesday decoded the intricacies of the Western Media's coverage of parliamentary elections in India, and the larger implications of their relentless interference. 

In an explosive revelation, Dasgupta told Arnab how a leading US-based publication had approached him to write an essay on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP movement while being wary of "presenting the other side".

"The New York Times (NYT) wanted an essay on PM Modi's BJP movement" as a key figure at the publication felt that the saffron party – with Modi at the helm – was the ultimate choice of millions, he said while also highlighting that he was asked "to incorporate some of the criticisms".

Narrating the episode, Dasgupta recalled how his connection with the NYT in this regard was made by an Indian writer who is himself "pretty hostile to Modi".

“I got this email around March 5 from a person who supposedly solicits opinion pieces. They wanted to know what is the basis of Modi's popularity in India, and to me it was more like a tacit admission that perhaps the Western media hasn't got it right”, he said.

Noting his submission via an essay on the ‘Shift in Indian Establishment’, Dasgupta recalled the moment when he had received a call from NYT, informing him that the publication –  masquerading itself as a beacon of free speech – wasn't going to "move forward" with the essay, essentially because his piece, per the publication, "didn't meet expectations".

Responding to a question on why his submission did not meet the NYT expectations, Dasgupta told Arnab that they had "a pre-approved potted version".

The essay was referred to a larger editorial team, and that's when the supremacy of political line was asserted, he stressed while exposing the NYT's anti-Modi stance.

Elucidating on what his essay was about, the veteran journalist explained: "The whole point is that here was a man trying to get a rounded-sense of what is happening in the Indian politics by providing views of someone who is not hostile towards Modi. But the editorial board of the NYT is so entrenched that its own prejudices [get in the way] and [consequently] it does not count it, even though the publication had itself commissioned the very piece".

Dasgupta further told Arnab, “It wasn't that the arguments I had presented that took them by surprise. You [NYT] don't want your paper to be sullied by an article which tries to explain that Indian politics isn't what a few liberals in India and America tend to think what it is”.

Further during the interaction, the former MP delved deep into how his now-gagged essay talks about a regime that has now been replaced by new people who are “more rooted” and are "more vernacular in their orientation". 

“My assertion was that India has seen the demise of an old elite”, he stressed.

"Often in India, we have someone who is a warrior...there are aspects of Modi that remind people about the warrior in him", he noted while elaborating further on excerpts from the piece he had submitted to the media house.

“It's not merely that Modi is accepted as a leader”, Dasgupta stressed, while highlighting, “Over the past ten years, he has gradually acquired a cult status”.

Asserting that it's very important for the overseas audience to understand that it [PM Modi's rising popularity] is "not based out of irrationality", he noted that it's based on a combination of various things with "performance and delivery" being the key factors.

That, coupled with the belief that you [PM Modi] are upholding India and you are reclaiming the inheritance of India, the veteran journalist said.

Lamenting the Western media's antics in the wake of their pseudo-liberal approach, he opined, “Unfortunately, I believe that there is a large western audience which has chosen not to regard this in a sympathetic manner"

“They do not even try to comprehend it”, the former MP said.

When ABC Journalist Had Made False Claims, Alleging She Had to ‘Abruptly’ Leave India

In April this year, the South Asia Bureau Chief of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Avani Dias had also made false claims, alleging that she had to “abruptly” leave India after being told that her reporting “crossed a line”, a contention which was later proven to be “incorrect, misleading and mischievous”.

Dias was found to have “violated visa rules” while undertaking her professional pursuits, official sources had told Republic at the time, adding, “Inspite of this, on her request, she was assured that her visa would be extended for the coverage of the general elections”.

Avani Dias's previous visa had reportedly expired on 20 April 2024.

In a series of posts on social media platform ‘X’, the ABC journalist had claimed, "Last week, I had to leave India abruptly. The Modi Government told me my visa extension would be denied, saying my reporting "crossed a line". After Australian Government intervention, I got a mere two-month extension...less than 24 hours before my flight".

Refuting her claims, the officials had further clarified that Dias had paid the visa fee on 18 April and her visa was extended till June end on the same day. 

“She, however, chose to leave India on 20 April”, officials had further disclosed to Republic, adding that at the time of her departure, she “held a valid visa” and that the "extension of her visa stood approved”.

Dias did not just stop at that. She had also claimed that she, along with her team members was told that her “election accreditation would not come through because of an Indian ministry directive”. "We left on Day One of voting in the national election in what Modi calls "the mother of democracy”, she had written in another post on ‘X’, in yet another visible attempt at unnecessary meddling in the country's internal affairs.

Her second claim – about not been granted permission to cover elections – also turned out to be fabricated as official sources revealed that the coverage of election activities outside of booths is ”permitted to all Journalist Visa holders". 

“Authority letters are required only for access to polling booths and counting stations. This, however, cannot be processed while the visa extension is under process. It is pertinent to note that other ABC correspondents - Meghna Bali and Som Patidar - have already received  their letters”, they had underlined.

‘Political Players’ in Indian Election?

Last month, Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar had slammed the western media outlets after they went so far so as to criticise India's democratic structure. 

Western media outlets have been critical of India as consider themselves as political players in the ongoing Indian elections, Jaishankar had said at the time, adding that it was not the case that the western media is unaware of democratic values or they lack information. 

“I get a lot of these noises from the Western press and if they criticise our democracy, it's not because they lack information. It is because they think they are also political players in our election,” the EAM had said while addressing a forum for nationalist thinkers in Hyderabad. 

Calling it an “intrusion” into India's domestic affairs, the BJP leader had quipped, “It is politics. This is our domestic politics which is going global. How can they decide who should be ruling without consulting us?”, adding, “West actually think they are part of our electorate".

Further during the interaction, Jaishankar cited an article carried by a western publication and gave a befitting reply, saying, “Now I read that article, I wanted to say listen, in that heat my lowest turnout is higher than your highest turnout in the best run".

For the uninitiated, the article carried in the Western press had reportedly questioned India's rationale behind conducting general elections “in such a weather” as it went on to covertly use the existing heat wave in India as basis to question the timing of Lok Sabha elections. 

Emphasising on the need to take a stand in the face of such attacks and criticism and rankings and reports because “they [Western media] will question everything”, Jaishankar had said, “I think it's time today that we disabuse them and the best way that we do that, is by confidence”.

‘Western Media Isn’t Practising Journalism. It's Straightforward Politics'

Earlier, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also echoed a similar sentiment in the recent past while asserting, “What the western media is practising isn’t journalism. It’s straightforward politics”. 

The ‘headlines in Western publications’ are evident of their thought process and their obsession is clear: "they think they are players in Indian elections", Sitharaman had said, while responding to a post on social media platform ‘X’.