New Delhi: A day after India exposed Canadian hypocrisy, the Australian news outlet which has been facing the brunt of the Justin Trudeau government for telecasting an interview and press conference of the External Affairs Minister, editor of the media expressed deep concerns over the action. Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj, managing editor of The Australia Today, said the move has made it difficult for the team, but they are undeterred by such obstacles.
The statement came as Canada blocked Australian Today, hours after it broadcast the press conference of Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong. “The recent restriction and ban on our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and the press conference with Australian Foreign Minister @SenatorWong on #socialmedia, under orders from the Canadian government, have been difficult for our team and those who value free and open #journalism,” the editor wrote on the social media platform.
“We remain steadfast in our mission to bring important stories and voices to the public, undeterred by these obstacles. The overwhelming support we have received is a powerful reminder of the importance of a #freepress, and we will continue to strive for #transparency, #accuracy, and the right to tell stories that matter,” Bharadwaj said.
India calls Canada’s action a true hypocrisy
Earlier on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the Canadian action of blocking the social media handles and certain pages of Australia Today smacked of hypocrisy towards freedom of speech.
“We understand that the social media handles, and pages of this particular outlet, which are important diaspora outlets, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. This happened just an hour or few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of EAM Dr S Jaishankar with Penny Wong,” Jaiswal said in response to a question at the weekly media briefing.
“We were surprised. It looks strange to us. But nonetheless, what I say is that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech,” the external affairs ministry spokesman said.
He said Jaishankar, in his media interactions in Australia, had spoken about the allegations levelled against India by Canada without sharing any specific evidence. “You would have seen that the External Affairs Minister, in his media engagements, spoke about three things. One was Canada making allegations and a pattern has developed without any specific evidence,” he said.
The spokesperson said the second thing he highlighted was surveillance of Indian diplomats happening in Canada, which he termed as unacceptable. “The third thing which he highlighted was the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements. So you can draw your conclusions from that, why the Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada,” Jaiswal said.
(With inputs from agency)
