New Delhi: Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs, slammed international news organisations, including the New York Times, on Friday, accusing them of peddling false information about India and its democratically elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting said in a series of tweets that PM Modi and certain foreign media outlets "have long been systematically trying to peddle lies about our democracy and pleuritic society."

"New York Times had long since abandoned all pretenses of objectivity when covering India. A propaganda piece attacking India and its democratic institutions and ideals was published by the NYT under the guise of an opinion piece on press freedom in Kashmir, Thakur said in a post.

This is a continuation of the false information that the New York Times and a few other foreign media outlets have been propagating about India and our democratically elected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji. Such lying can't continue for very long, he said. He claimed that in India, press freedom is just as sacred as other fundamental liberties.
Certain foreign media have long attempted to spread false information about our democracy and pleuritic society in an effort to further their own personal vendetta against India and our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. In India, press freedom is just as sacred as other fundamental rights, according to the minister's tweet.

"Indian democracy and the people who live in it are both quite developed, so we don't need to learn the rules of democracy from such agenda-driven media. The blatant lies produced by the New York Times regarding press freedom in Kashmir are unacceptable, he said, adding that Indians would not permit such ideologies to pursue their goal on Indian land.

"Congress needs to explain its motivation. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have a culture of travelling overseas and disparaging one's own nation. Rahul Gandhi must quit inciting hatred, Thakur remarked outside of a function taking place at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Speaking to media in New Delhi today, the minister further disparaged Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. 

During a recent trip to the UK, Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre, claiming that an attack had been launched against the fundamentals of Indian democracy.

The Congress leader argued during his speech at Chatham House that the main purpose behind Chinese troops on the frontiers of Ladakh and Arunachal was identical to what is currently occurring in Ukraine. Moreover, S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, was referred to as a "ludicrous idea" by Rahul Gandhi for dismissing the Chinese threat.

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