Ex-diplomat deletes tweet claiming Soros owns WSJ over Modi's criticism
What's the story
India's former secretary general Kanwal Sibal was trolled on social media for claiming that billionaire investor George Soros owns The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) after the American daily published a piece critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He later deleted the tweet and said those picking holes in it were hung up on his error about the WSJ's ownership rather than his tweet's substance.
Context
Why does this story matter?
In the aftermath of Hindenburg Research's report on Adani Group in February, accusing it of corporate fraud, Soros questioned why PM Modi was "silent" on the issue.
He claimed that PM Modi "will have to answer questions," which will weaken his "stranglehold on India's federal institutions."
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded by calling it a "war" on India and PM Modi.
Article
WSJ article warned against US forging stronger ties with India
The controversy started over a piece titled "Can America Rely on Modi's India?" by columnist Sadanand Dhume in light of PM Modi's recent state visit to the US, which was touted as India-US relations reaching new heights.
In the piece, Dhume argues that the US should tread carefully when growing closer to India as the latter's "sluggish growth and civil unrest pose long-term risks."
Reaction
No effort to balance article: Sibal
Reacting to the piece, Sibal tweeted, "WSJ is owned by Soros. Explains the anti-Modi virulence of article. No effort to introduce any balance in it. Strings together a litany of smears. No honesty, only hate."
While Soros has a wide influence over American politics, he doesn't own the WSJ, which is a division of Dow Jones and owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Twitter Post
If you bash India, do we say anti-Hindu: Sibal
How does anti-semitism come into all this? Soros openly targets India’s ruling party. Our F M has called him old, opinionated &dangerous. This is abt his politics not his religion. Why distort the argument?If you or he bash India as you do shall we say you are anti-Hindu? https://t.co/2oZIuQYdsg
— Kanwal Sibal (@KanwalSibal) June 25, 2023
Antisemitism
Sibal accused of promoting antisemitism for targeting Soros
Apart from being called out on the error about WSJ ownership, several users accused Sibal of unintentionally "repeating completely fictitious antisemitic conspiracies" about Soros.
Sibal rejected the allegations of antisemitism, saying that the criticism had nothing to do with Soros's religion.
To back his statement, he cited External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remark calling Soros "old, rich, opinionated, and dangerous."