Foreign media outlets often wait for opportunities to paint India in a negative light. This time, the UK-based newspaper The Guardian has reported the recent violence in Ladakh and the arrest of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk in its own way.

On 24th September, violence broke out in Ladakh, leading to the deaths of four people and over 60 were injured. Following the clashes, Wangchuk was detained under the provisions of the National Security Act (NSA) on Friday (26th September). But instead of presenting the violence and its aftermath in context, “In a report, The Guardian has blindly condemned the arrest of the Ladakh violence as part of action against the “dissent” of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.”

Right from the beginning of The Guardian’s report, it is clearly visible that it is not a report, but propaganda against India and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Guardian tried to portray the arrest as an attack on free speech.

The initial part of the report has tried to show that the Modi government, cannot hear its protest, implying that Wangchuk was jailed only because he had raised his voice against the authorities.

After this claim, the Guardian also introduced Wangchuck and wrote that he was leading the ‘long agitation against the Modi government’. He was leading the long agitation, but even after his long protests he was not jailed by the government. In fact, rather than suppressing his movement, the Modi government had formed a high-level committee to engage with his concerns.

The Indian government’s attempt was not to suppress the voice of dissent, but that their voices should be heard, action should be taken. He has been arrested after the violence in Ladakh, in which 4 people have died. The Guardian has deliberately concealed the beginning of its news in the information.

And it is not just the only propaganda. There has been an attempt to write a fabricated story.

The report also argues to justify violence. “This territory(Ladakh) was part of the Jammu and Kashmir before it was unilaterally dissolved by the Modi government and brought fully under its control, to the anger and frustration of the local population,” the Guardian wrote.

The Guardian saw the anger and disappointment of the people, but the newspaper  forgot to highlight that there were demonstrations in this Ladakh for decades to become a Union Territory. When the decision was finally announced in 2019, residents celebrated with drums and dancing. Even Wangchuk himself had publicly thanked the government at that time. Today, his demands are for full statehood and greater autonomy, but that doesn’t mean the UT status was imposed against the will of the people of Ladakh. 

It is clear that the aim of the Guardian’s piece was less about reporting facts and more about pushing a narrative that life in Ladakh has worsened under Modi’s leadership.

The Guardian report further criticised over India’s military construction and infrastructure construction in Ladakh. The Guardian is concerned that India’s military construction is having an impact on the environment. While environmental concerns are valid, what the piece ignored is the reason behind these projects, the military needs and the growing threat from China.

Foreign media outlets like the Guardian repeatedly target India’s military construction and infrastructure as an environmental crisis. But this media rarely raises questions about the construction of large military bases, roads, tunnels and airbases of other countries.