No one can be allowed to rain on India's parade just when Prime Minister Modi is on the cusp of being recognised as a world leader through India's routine and rotational assumption of the G-20 presidency. Therefore, the breaking of informal red lines set for the domestic media by outsiders has to be framed by the ruling dispensation as a conspiracy of "foreign powers".
Union minister Smriti Irani claimed that George Soros has launched a "war" against India and that he has a "desire to break Indian democracy". Her colleague S Jaishankar also went over the top, talking of a "fear psychosis" created by Soros and rustling up images of foreign domination, saying, "We are a country that went through colonialism, we know the dangers of what happens when there's outside interference."
Soros' comments and the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra have raised the ghost of Gujarat 2002
TO READ THE FULL STORY, SUBSCRIBE NOW NOW AT JUST RS 249 A MONTH.
Subscribe To Insights
Key stories on business-standard.com are available to premium subscribers only.Already a BS Premium subscriber? Log in NOW
Or