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The German Foreign Ministry has mocked India’s democracy over the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair. Mohammed Zubair was asked about the arrest at a press conference at the German Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.
In response, the German Foreign Ministry said, “India claims to be the world’s largest democracy. In such a situation, democratic values like freedom of expression and freedom of media can be expected from that country. Media should be given due space. We are committed to freedom of expression. We support media freedom around the world. This is a very important one. And this applies to India as well. Free press is very important to any society. Control over the press is worrisome. “Journalists cannot be jailed for speaking and writing.”
“We have information about the arrest in India. Our Embassy in New Delhi is taking care of this. We are also in touch with the European Union on this issue. EU holds talks with India on human rights Under that comes freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” it added.
Richard Walker, chief international editor of Germany’s broadcasting service ‘DW’, told the German Foreign Ministry spokesperson, “Germany continues to be vocal about press freedom and opposes the arrest of journalists wherever they are. But why this difference in this matter as far as India is concerned? Why didn’t Germany take a tough stance on India? He questioned.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded, “It cannot be said that the criticism was not timely. I have always been vocal about freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” he said.
Prime Minister Moti emphasized democratic values in Germany
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the G-7 conference held in Germany on 26th and 27th of last month as a special guest. Apart from India, Indonesia, Argentina, South Africa and Senegal were also invited as special guests.
These five countries signed the ‘2022 Resilient Democracy Declaration’ along with the G-7 countries on June 27. This includes protecting diversity and freedom in civil society, and protecting freedom of expression online and offline.
“We are committed to strengthening democracy with Germany, Argentina, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Senegal, South Africa, Britain, the United States and the European Union,” the four-page statement said. We will defend democracy, fight together against exploitation and violence, defend democratic values globally, and work together to protect public debate, media freedom and diversity, free access to information online and offline, and its transparency.
image source, @MEA
On the same day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he would work with the G-7 countries on these democratic values, Mohammad Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking website Alt News, was arrested by the Delhi Police. A Twitter user complained about Mohammad Zubair’s 2018 tweet. He accused Muhammad Zubair of hurting religious sentiments. Based on this, Zubair has been arrested by the Delhi Police.
Muhammad Zubair’s arrest is linked to controversial comments made by former BJP National Spokesperson Nubur Sharma about Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad Zubair had slammed Nubur Sharma on social media for his controversial comments.
Following this, many Islamic countries issued statements against India. There was a demand to take action against Nupur Sharma. Later BJP suspended Nupur Sharma from the party. FIRs have been registered against Nupur Sharma in several states. But he has not been arrested yet. On the other hand, Delhi Police arrested Mohammed Zubair on a complaint by a Twitter user. Later more charges were brought against him. This includes receiving donations from foreign countries.
Prime Minister Modi accepts questions from reporters on European tour
In the first week of May, Prime Minister Modi went on a European tour. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been criticized for not allowing journalists to ask questions during his European tour and India’s human rights issue.
Since late 2015, the prime minister has only issued joint statements with his colleagues without allowing journalists to ask questions. But this time, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle’s chief international editor, Richard Walker, raised the issue in front of everyone with a tweet about Modi’s visit to Germany.
“Modi and Shots are going to address the press in Berlin. They will announce 14 agreements between the two governments. They will not allow questions at the request of the Indian side,” he had posted.
Walker also highlighted that India has slipped 8 places in terms of media freedom. Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has ranked India 150th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom. Last year, India was ranked 142nd.
“Prime Minister Modi met German Chancellor Olaf Schotts on May 4. But after bilateral agreements, Schotts did not allow journalists to ask questions, contrary to practice. In Germany, too, it has been decided not to allow questions from the press, acceding to the request of the Indian delegation,” French news website France 24 quoted German officials as saying about Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Europe.
UN’s objection to Mohammed Zubair’s arrest and India’s response
On June 29, the United Nations also protested the arrest of Mohammed Zubair. It also said that a journalist cannot be jailed for what he writes, what he tweets and what he says.
A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres said that journalists cannot be harassed for speaking and writing.
“I believe it is important for people to be free to speak what they think, no matter what corner of the world, journalists have the right to do their work freely. “No one should be threatened or harassed for this,” he said.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has responded by saying that the UN’s comment on Mohammad Zubair is baseless and interferes with India’s independent judiciary.
“In India, any action is taken only through the judiciary,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagshi said.
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Source: BBC.com