Sabrina Siddiqui: The US journo harassed for questioning PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest visit to the United States was indeed historic. It grabbed headlines for weeks, especially for the mega deals signed. The PM also has had a rare interaction with the press and took questions from reporters at the White House.

One of the questions raised was about democracy and the rights of minorities in the country. It was asked by Sabrina Siddiqui, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. Now she is facing massive criticism and is being trolled online.

Even the White House has stepped in and condemned the harassment.

Who is Siddiqui and what did she ask the PM? We take a look.

Also read: ‘We’re shaping lives, dreams, destinies’: Why PM Modi’s diaspora speech in Washington is significant

Who is Sabrina Siddiqui?

Pakistani-American journalist Sabrina Siddiqui covers the Biden administration as a White House correspondent for The Wall Street Journal in Washington, DC.

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Her mother is Pakistani, while her father was born in India and raised in Pakistan. Siddiqui was born in the US, however, she feels deeply rooted in her cultural heritage, according to Zee News.

Siddiqui attended Northwestern University for her higher education and now resides in Washington, DC, with her husband. She has been married to Muhammad Ali Syed Jafri for four years; they have a sweet daughter named Sofi.

During her tenure at The Huffington Post, she gained extensive reporting expertise on both the Obama administration and Congress. She joined The Wall Street Journal in 2019, having previously worked for The Guardian. She also worked for Bloomberg as a member of the White House team.

Also read: How PM Modi's visit to the US is sparking a wave of investments

What did she ask?

During the press conference, Sabrina Siddiqui questioned PM Modi on minorities' rights in India and the measures his administration was prepared to take to protect both free speech and minorities' rights.

Siddiqui had asked, "Mr Prime Minister, India has long prided itself as the world's largest democracy, but there are many human rights groups who say that your government has discriminated against religious minorities and sought to silence its critics... What steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other religious minorities in your country and uphold free speech?"

In response to the question, the Indian leader said, "We are a democracy... India and America both have democracy in our DNA. Democracy is in our spirit; it runs in our veins. We live it, and it's written in our constitution. There is no question of discrimination on the grounds of caste, creed, or religion. That is why India believes in 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayaas' and walks ahead with it."

"Our government has proven that democracy can deliver, and when I say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, and gender. There is absolutely no space for discrimination. In India, the benefits that are provided by the government are accessible to all," he added.

Why is she facing criticism?

Social media erupted after videos of the presser took over the internet, with both supporters and critics praising PM Modi's cool response. Siddiqui, who received criticism from netizens in both India and the US for posing the issue in terms of "improving the rights of Muslims," retweeted several comments from her fellow journalists and several supporters.

The questioning from Siddiqui was labelled as "motivated" by BJP's IT head Amit Malviya. He referred to the "toolkit gang," a derogatory term for protestors who use online tools to plan and coordinate protests, and said that the responses from Modi and US President Biden dealt a "blow" to them.

He tweeted, "Prime Minister Modi completely destroyed the motivated question on steps being taken to ‘protect’ rights of Muslims and other minorities. In his response he didn’t mention Muslims or any other denomination, spoke about Constitution, access to Govt resources based on eligibility and no discrimination based on caste, creed, religion or geography… After President Biden’s cold response to a similar question, this was another blow to the toolkit gang."

Siddiqui was referred to as an "Islamist" by accounts notorious for sending pro-Bharatiya Janata Party and pro-Hindutva tweets because of her Muslim faith. Several social media users accused her of having an agenda and indicated that she was doing it at Pakistan's request when she asked the question concerning Indian Muslims. They even posted an eight-year-old Instagram post she shared for Pakistan, which features a Pakistani flag.

One of the biggest websites that support the BJP, OpIndia, published an article on Siddiqui attacking her for being "the daughter of Pakistani parents" and for "echoing the claims of Islamists."

Siddiqui had to clarify after the insults that she supported her father's Indian cricket team as well.

Also read: Modi to attend Rani Durgavati Yatra: Who was the queen that died fighting Mughals?

What did the White House say?

The White House has defended the journalist and denounced the alleged harassment.

The US National Security Council's John Kirby described it as "completely unacceptable" and "antithetical to the very principles of democracy that... were on display last week during the state visit."

He said, "We’re aware of the reports of that harassment. It’s unacceptable. And we absolutely condemn any harassment of journalists anywhere under any circumstances. That’s completely unacceptable. And it’s antithetical to the very principles of democracy that were on display last week during the state visit.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said, “We’re certainly here, at the White House, under this administration, committed to the freedom of the press, which is why we had the press conference last week. We certainly condemn any efforts of intimidation or harassment of a journalist or any journalist that is just trying to do their job. And so, I just want to be very clear about that."

With inputs from agencies

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