The Australia Today, an ‘important diaspora outlet,’ raised its concerns after being blocked by the Canadian government following airing a press conference featuring external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart Penny Wong.
The outlet issued a statement on Friday, stating that they will remain steadfast in bringing important stories to the public and will continue to advocate for an open and inclusive media landscape.
Sharing its social media page photo of being blocked for Canadians on X, Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj, the Managing Editor of The Australia Today said, “We at @TheAusToday would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to every #news outlet, #journalist, and #supporter who stood by us during a challenging time. The recent restriction and ban on our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and the press conference with Australian Foreign Minister @SenatorWong on #socialmedia, under orders from the Canadian government, have been difficult for our team and those who value free and open #journalism.”
The Managing Editor thanked other people from the journalism community for their unwavering support during this difficult time.
“We remain steadfast in our mission to bring important stories and voices to the public, undeterred by these obstacles. The overwhelming support we have received is a powerful reminder of the importance of a #freepress, and we will continue to strive for #transparency, #accuracy, and the right to tell stories that matter. Once again, thank you for supporting us. We will continue to advocate for an open and inclusive #media landscape,” Bharadwaj added.
This comes amidst videos of attack on Hindu temple in Brampton surfaced drawing condemnation from PM Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.
What Jaishankar said in the interview?
On Thursday, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal addressed the weekly press briefing where he list out three points made by Jaishankar on the media outlet during the press conference.
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“One was Canada making allegations and a pattern has developed without any specific evidence. The second thing he highlighted was surveillance of Indian diplomats happening in Canada, which he termed as unacceptable. The third thing which he highlighted was the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements. So you can draw your conclusions from that, why Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada,” Jaiswal said.
In the conference aired by ‘The Australia Today’, Australia’s Wong had also raised the issue of Canada’s allegations on Indian diplomats of being involved in violent attacks against Sikh leaders.
India calls Canada ‘Hypocrisy’ after banning the important diaspora outlet
Calling the banning of ‘The Australia Today’ a “hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech,” the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Jaishankar also raised the issue of “political space” being given to “anti-India elements” in Canada.
“We understand that the social media handles, pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, has been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. This happened just an hour or few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of EAM Dr S Jaishankar with Penny Wong,” Jaiswal said.
“I will say that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech,” he added.