India’s envoy to Ireland takes swipe at Congress, party says sack him

Ambassador @AkhileshIFS’s rejoinder to @IrishTimes‘ highly biased & prejudiced editorial [Modi tightens his grip” April 11, 2024)], casting aspersion on Prime Minister of India, Shri @narendramodi, Indian democracy, law enforcement institutions & “Hindu-majority” people of India. pic.twitter.com/Oh5rFly92Z

— India in Ireland (Embassy of India, Dublin) (@IndiainIreland) April 15, 2024

“Most recent was the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal… over an alleged ‘scam’ involving alcohol sales… And Congress, India’s largest Opposition party, has seen the tax authority freeze millions in its bank accounts, crippling its ability to campaign,” the editorial said.

In his rejoinder, with the headline “Modi enjoys unprecedented popularity”, Mishra said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys unprecedented popularity not only in India but globally because of his impeccable personal character and integrity and thought-leadership on innovative, inclusive governance and sustainable development.”

“As he does not belong to any elite political family, his personal life inspires millions of ordinary people in India and other developing countries,” Mishra said. “The fight against the deeply entrenched ecosystem of corruption (created by the 55-year rule, including first 30 years by a single dynastic party in India) is a major factor behind Mr Modi’s ever growing popularity,” he said.

“There is a huge sense of relief at the grassroot level to witness action being taken and recoveries made from the rich and powerful elites who operated with a sense of entitlement of impunity,” he said, adding that the anti-corruption drive is successful because Modi has given a free hand to the relevant agencies.

Saying that “India’s democracy is strong, vibrant and robust”, Mishra said: “A stereotypical description of India as ’80 per cent Hindu majority’ nation is quite misleading because Hinduism as inherently inclusive and fundamentally pluralistic.”

Mishra’s rejoinder was also posted on ‘X’ by the official handle of the Indian Embassy in Dublin on Monday, which called The Irish Times editorial “highly biased and prejudiced…casting aspersion on Modi, Indian democracy, law enforcement institutions and ‘Hindu majority’ people of India”.

Responding to Mishra, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday posted on X: “Defending the Government of India is one thing and is to be expected. But to attack Opposition parties openly in thus manner like a party apparatchik is not expected from an Ambassador even if he be a political appointment. This is unprofessional and disgraceful behaviour on his part — but is par for the Modi course I guess.”

In a follow-up post, he said: “I stand corrected. This Ambassador is actually a career diplomat which makes his comments even more shameful, disgraceful and completely unacceptable. He has actually breached service rules and should be sacked right away.”

Hailing from Varanasi, Mishra was posted to Dublin in October 2021. He has also served as India’s Ambassador to Maldives (2016-19), Consul General in Toronto, Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul, and in different capacities in Nepal, Italy and Peru.

In March last year, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur had rebutted The New York Times on an article on the freedom of press in Kashmir. “The New York Times had long back dropped all pretensions of neutrality while publishing anything about India. NYT’s so-called opinion piece on freedom of press in Kashmir is mischievous and fictitious, published with a sole motive to spread propaganda about India and its democratic institutions and values,” Thakur had said in a post on social media.