On April 25, 2024, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted to the ongoing police crackdown on pro-Palestine protests in various universities in the United States of America. It is said that democracies should have a balance of freedom of expression, a sense of responsibility and public safety and order.
Addressing a media briefing today, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that “democracies in particular must display this understanding for other democracies since we are all judged by what we do at home and not what we say abroad.”
“We have seen reports on the matter and have been following related events, in every democracy, there has to be a right balance between freedom of expression, a sense of responsibility along with public safety and order. Democracies in particular, should display this understanding in regard to other democracies. After all we are judged by what we do at home and not what we say abroad,” Randhir Jaiswal said.
This comes amidst reports of mass arrests in the US after a pro-Palestine protest which started at the famous Columbia University on April 17, 2024 and then extended to New York University, Yale University, University of Illinois and the University of California among others. The pro-Palestine protestors have set up Liberated Camp Zones inside these universities.
The US Police on April 24, 2024, started arresting anti-Israeli protestors from the University of South California. Meanwhile, dozens of protestors were taken into custody violently from Texas University. Police were seen in riot gear, holding batons and surrounded a group of protestors before arresting them one by one.
Over 40 to 48 protestors were arrested on Monday at an encampment at the Yale University, while 133 protestors were taken into custody at the New York University this week. On April 23, 2024, nine protestors were arrested from the University of Minnesota.
In addition to the pro-Palestine protests in the US and subsequent arrests, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also reacted to the recently published US State Department controversial reports titled “Country Reports on Human Rights Practises”.
The summary of these reports talked about the violence in Manipur between May 3, and November 15. The report was rife with whitewashing of the likes of Umar Khalid, Atiq Ahmed, Siddiqui Kappan and Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Reacting to a question regarding the report, the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the report is deeply biased and advised the media not to attach any value to it since it reflects the poor understanding of India. “The report is deeply biased and reflects a poor understanding of India, we do not attach any value to it and urge you to do the same,” he added.
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