JNU blows up: NYT editorial says Modi government is cracking down on dissent and harming democracy

The critical NYT edit is bad news for Modi as it is hugely influential.

February 22, 2016, NewsCrunch

JNU controversy has gone  international: in a stinging editorial The New York Times has blamed the Modi government for cracking down on JNU students and stifling freedom of expression in India.

The editorial uses harsh language and leaves nothing to imagination.

India is on the throes of a violent clash between advocates of freedom of speech and the Hindu right under Narendra Modi, it notes.

The clash is so serious it risks sabotaging both economic progress and India’s democracy.
The NYT edit also approvingly quotes academic Pratap Bhanu Mehta saying Modi government “have threatened democracy; that is the most anti-national of all acts.”
The edit also recaps in good detail the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar for sedition, the entry of police into JNU campus, the attack on journalists and students in which the police refused to intervene and the subsequent march by journalists...

"This confrontation raises serious concerns about Mr. Modi’s governance...," says the edit.

The critical NYT edit is bad news for Modi as it is hugely influential. It sets the tone for International media and makes the controversy a priority for the US government.

It builds an impression that India has become politically volatile, and undermines Modi's effort to woo foreign investment.

NYT had similarly attacked Modi earlier as well when the churches had come under attack. It had also opposed what it described as the targeting as social activist Teesta Stalvad, in another edit.