Melbourne:
Its founder and editor-in-chief Jitarth Jai Bhardwaj called Canada's blocking of the prominent diaspora channel 'Australia Today' the 'murder of the free press' and asked Justin Trudeau's government why the rights of the Hindu community in the world country are not being supported because they face 'repeated attacks on their places of worship'.
This comes after Canada blocked the outlet's social media handles and pages soon after it broadcast a press conference of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra. During the press conference, the EAM slammed Canada for making allegations against India without any specific evidence and called its “surveillance of Indian diplomats” unacceptable and also stressed that “in Canada, political space has been given to anti-Indian elements”.
On Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also slammed Canada for its “hypocrisy towards freedom of expression” following the blocking of 'The Australia Today' in the country.
Following the Trudeau government's blocking, Mr Bhardwaj expressed concern about the measure and said the publication would continue to advocate for open media.
In an interview with ANI, Mr Bhardwaj talked about how their supporters informed them that they could not access the outlet's content in Canada. After that, they came to know that EAM Jaishankar's press conference and interview had disappeared from the social media platform.
“We were told by many readers and followers of our page that they cannot view or view our content on Facebook and Instagram, which they were able to view 10-15 minutes ago and now they cannot. They tried to share it with their friends and colleagues and suddenly the press conference and interview disappeared from the Facebook page and a notice was written there stating that this content was not available for viewing in Canada by order of Canadian government law,” he said.
The newspaper's editor condemned the Trudeau government's “dictatorial” move as a “murder of press freedom” and said there must be room for diverse views in a democracy.
“This is a murder of press freedom. This is not freedom of speech, this is not how democracies act, and this is the way for dictators to act and pressure the press. In every democracy there is room for diverse views and for the press to debate, interpret and analyze all those diverse views,” Bhardwaj said.
He added: “It seems that Canada is not particularly happy with the way we asked questions of the Indian and Australian foreign ministers, and they were not happy to see that many Canadians responded and tried to educate themselves . The Canadian government has been promoting this for a long time.”
The Australia Today founder further elaborated on his outlet's reporting, saying they aim to provide coverage of the “vibrant” Indian democracy, which he said is being “left out”.
“Australia Today is a news channel working for multicultural communities in the West. We bring stories from Britain, Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Singapore, wherever the Indian diaspora is hardworking and vibrant. Their stories However, are important They are ignored by the so-called mainstream media, and this platform Australia Today highlights the issues that are very important to the Indian Australian community and the Indian diaspora as a whole,” he said.
Stating that 'The Australia Today' reporting is universally appreciated as it highlights the plight of the Indian community, Mr Bhardwaj also shed light on the 'threats' the outlet receives. He alleged that the news platform and its journalists have been threatened by Indian-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and other Khalistani extremists.
“Our reporting on what is happening by Khalistani groups in Canada or the US received a lot of attention there. Our reporting was appreciated everywhere. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun threatened us after releasing a video. He posted pictures of me and my team online and told his supporters to harm us in various ways. This is ongoing and we have been reporting continuously without fear,” he said.
Referring to the situation in Canada, the Editor-in-Chief of The Australia Today said the Hindu community is not only being attacked, persecuted and oppressed by extremist elements, but also by the police and authorities.
He also said his outlet is ready to interview Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and ministers and ask why the rights of the Hindu community in his country are not being realized as they continue to face one untoward incident after another.
“I'm just a reporter. I can report on what's going on. So I can say that the Hindu community is currently under attack in Canada. The Hindu community is currently being persecuted in Canada by the police, RCMP and authorities. Everyone is working as if he wants to suppress the rights of Canadian Hindu citizens,” Bhardwaj said.
“That's what I see now and that's what we report. If Trudeau or his ministers would like to talk to us, we'd be happy to interview them and ask simple questions that every journalist should be asking them right now. community in Canada is treated the way they are treated? Why are their rights not respected? Why are their temples under attack?
When asked if 'The Australia Today' will try to challenge the Canadian government's order, the editor said they would focus on reporting the problems of Canadian citizens without any fear.
“I don't think the Canadian government is listening right now. But we will not stop doing what we do, which is reporting. Reporting the problems of Canadian citizens, Canadian Indians and multilingual communities. We will continue to do that, Mr Bhardwaj emphasized.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)