'New Distort Times': I&B Minister Anurag Thakur Slams New York Times Chairman's 'Terrorist' Remark At UNESCO Event

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday (4 May) slammed The New York Times (NY) chairman A G Sulzberger for claiming that Indian journalists are treated as terrorists.

At a UNESCO event on Wednesday (3 May), Sulzberger said in India, authorities have raided newsrooms and treated journalists essentially as terrorists.

Thakur asserted that law takes its own course in India in case of any wrongdoing and no one can claim immunity citing the status of being a media organisation.

"In India law takes its own course if someone does something wrong, newsroom or no newsroom. Mere claiming the status of a newsroom does not grant immunity from unlawful deeds," Thakur wrote on Twitter.

Thakur wondered how any investigation any investigation, no matter the evidence, amounts to an attack on the press.

"Is it prudent to be a loose mouth and say journalists in India are treated as terrorists?" the minister asked.

He accused the NYT of running a "systematic smear campaign" against India by "shamelessly" using the UNESCO podium to "distort facts".

"Unable to digest the global rise of India and its turning into an economic powerhouse, certain old world media houses have been running a systematic smear campaign against India," Thakur tweeted.

"NYT, which has carved a niche for itself for writing fact-free and fabricated anti-India stories, shamelessly misused the podium of UNESCO to distort facts," he added.

The minister said it has been difficult for him to differentiate whether the newspaper is "The New York Times or New Distort Times".

"For me, it has been difficult to differentiate whether it is New York Times or New Distort Times," the minister said.