By Archis Chowdhury
A week after Ireland-based newspaper The Irish Times published a scathing editorial piece on the prevalence of ethnic and religious violence in India under the Narendra Modi-led administration, several leaders of Modi's Bharitiya Janata Party shared another article published on the website of the same newspaper, purportedly as an editorial piece by the media outlet praising Modi for 'transforming India'.
BOOM found these posts to be misleading; the article being shared by the BJP members, including cabinet ministers, is actually a letter written by the Ambassador Of India to Ireland to the newspaper, and does not represent The Irish Times' editorial views.
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On August 14, 2023, The Irish Times published an opinion piece to highlight its editorial take on the Modi administration, titled, "The Irish Times view on ethnic violence in India: Modi’s government is fanning the flames." The article highlighted rising cases of persecution of Muslims, ethnic tensions in Manipur, and denial and lack of accountability by the Modi-led regime.
A week later, Akhilesh Mishra, the Ambassador of India to Ireland, wrote a letter to the editor of The Irish Times, expressing disapproval of the newspaper's editorial piece, and discusses a list of achievements by the Modi administration. Mishra's article, titled, "Modi has transformed India for the better", was then published on the website of The Irish Times as an opinion piece under the "Letters" section.
Soon, several members of the BJP, including ministers Smriti Irani, Meenakshi Lekhi, Som Parkash and Kiren Rijiju shared the article on X (formerly Twitter), purportedly as a piece published by The Irish Times, without indicating that it is a letter written by the Ambassador Mishra. Click here, here, here and here to view archives of their tweets, respectively.
Soon, a large number of X users shared a screenshot of the article, as an editorial piece by The Irish Times.
Fact Check
BOOM accessed the link to the website of The Irish Times posted by Irani, Lekhi and Parkash, which led us to an opinion piece under the "Letters" section (highlighted in red in the screenshot of the article below). This gave an indication that the piece was a letter to the editor, and not an editorial piece by the newspaper.
Furthermore, the letter began with a disapproval by the author at The Irish Times' recent editorial take on the Modi administration, published a week earlier.
The rest of the letter spoke about the economic, developmental and infrastructural achievements of the Modi administration, and denied any social injustice in the country - albeit refraining from mentioning the situation in Manipur, or the persecution of Muslims.
Finally, the letter was found signed by Akhilesh Mishra, the Ambassador of India to Ireland.
