The Guardian has asked the Indian news website OpIndia to stop its “online attacks” on the British newspaper’s reporter Aina J Khan over her coverage of the violence involving Hindu and Muslim groups in Liecester, England. 

“There’s no basis for you to accuse Aina, without any evidence whatsoever, of being ‘Islamist’ or biased in her reporting,” the paper said in an email to the Hindu supremacist website’s chief editor Nupur J Sharma and the editor of its English site, Nirwa Mehta. “At a time when risks to journalists’ safety are rising around the world, it is highly irresponsible to encourage hate against a young female reporter, whether online or in person. Moreover, doing so risks undermining your credibility as a media organisation.”  

Noting that OpIndia “disagrees with some of the Guardian’s coverage of Prime Minister Modi’s actions”, the British newspaper told the Indian news site, “You are entitled to criticise our coverage whoever you see fit, but to not make personal attacks on our journalists.”

Sharma and her team were “thoroughly amused” by the Guardian’s email but “responded politely”, according to the chief editor. “An article showing the glaring bias in reporting a sensitive issue where the British Hindu minority came under attack, or an opinion piece on the mythical ‘bravery’ of the duo who supposedly stood up to ‘Hindutva mobs’ (and were unscathed) cannot particularly be called an ‘attack’ but a criticism of the turn of events. If this is considered an ‘attack’ by The Guardian, I must humbly point out that your publication has been indulging in online Armageddon since its very inception, given that you have an illustrious history of misinterpreting nuances, misrepresenting facts, labelling and demonising those you don’t agree with and siding with the most violent elements in society,” Sharma wrote in an article on OpIndia.

After the violence in Leicester made headlines, OpIndia questioned Khan’s integrity and motivation. “Khan wanted to see what she wanted to see. She wanted to hear what she thought she would hear because of the chatter that has been going on on Twitter by Islamists over the years,” OpIndia wrote. “Because now it seems the Ummah will go to any extent to make Hindus appear like aggressors so that their radicals also appear moderate.”

To understand what happened in Leicester and what role the Indian media played in it, read Aban Usmani’s piece on Newslaundry.