The White House Correspondents’ Association denounced the harassment that Wall Street Journal correspondent Sabrina Siddiqui has experienced since pressing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his human-rights record. During Modi’s White House visit last week, Siddiqui brought up criticism that his Hindu nationalist government has discriminated against Muslims, asking the prime minister what steps he’s taking to protect religious minorities and free speech. Since that press conference, the reporter has been inundated with online attacks from officials within Modi’s political party. Noting on Tuesday that Siddiqui was the “lone journalist from America” called on during the presser, WHCA president Tamara Keith said Siddiqui “represented the White House press corps incredibly well” while praising her questions. “Unfortunately since then she has been subjected to intense online harassment, including from people with ties to the prime minister’s political party, questioning her motives, he religion and her heritage,” Keith added in her statement. “This is unacceptable. The WHCA stands by Sabrina and the questions she chose to ask. In a democracy, journalists shouldn’t be targeted simply for doing their jobs and asking questions that need to be asked.” Keith’s denouncement of the harassment campaign of Siddiqui comes after the White House condemned the attacks on Monday, saying “it’s antithetical to the very principles of democracy that were on display last week during the state visit.”
