Foreign Secy Says 'Criticising Govt Hallmark of Democracy', But BJP Handles Have Missed the Memo

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing India-Pakistan tensions, foreign secretary Vikram Misri on Saturday (May 10), in a terse response to the Pakistani military spokesperson airing clips of Indian politicians and civil society criticising the Indian government has said that while “it may be a surprise to Pakistan to see citizens criticising their own government – it is the hallmark of an open and functioning democracy”.

On the other hand, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) IT cell head Amit Malviya has circulated the same video of the Pakistani military spokesperson airing these clips and said that the Pakistan Army is “using statements from Congress leaders to shift blame onto India” and “support their narrative” while other BJP spokespersons have said it is “evident why these videos were produced”. Right wing social media handles have also demanded action against those featured in these clips.

On Friday, the Pakistani military held a press conference in which it sought to use clips criticising the Indian government for the security lapses that led to the Pahalgam terror attack in a bid to justify what it called was “blatant aggression” that Pakistan was facing. 

On Friday evening, Malviya posted the same clip on X and said that the Pakistani army is “using statements from Congress leaders to shift blame onto India.”

“In front of international media, they played videos featuring Congress leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, to support their narrative. Clips of Dhruv Rathee, Neha Singh Rathore and Rakesh Tikait were also shown to portray India in a negative light.”

The clips that were played had questioned the security lapses and intelligence failure that had led to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed last month. The Union government at the first all-party meeting called after the attack had said that despite “everything going well” in recent years, including businesses running and tourism returning, the Pahalgam attack was a “lapse” and local authorities were not informed that tourists were being taken to the area – Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley – where the incident took place.

While addressing a press conference on Saturday, however, Misri responded to the clips and called them a “hallmark of an open and functioning democracy” that Pakistan is unfamiliar with.

“We have also seen in some of the remarks shown on television that the Pakistani army spokesman seems to take great joy at the fact that the Indian public criticises the Government of India with regard to various issues,” he said. 

“It may be a surprise to Pakistan to see citizens criticising their own government – that is the hallmark of an open and functioning democracy. Pakistan’s unfamiliarity with that again should not be surprising.”

Contrary to the government position, ruling party members continued to target those who were featured in the clips.

BJP national spokesperson R.P. Singh also posted the clip and said that it is now “evident why these videos were produced”.

The Pakistan Army is using statements made by @INCIndia leaders to tarnish India’s image on the global stage. Video clips featuring @kharge, @dhruv_rathee, @nehafolksinger & @RakeshTikaitBKU are being circulated in foreign media. It's now evident why those videos were produced pic.twitter.com/XzZESQsnkA

— RP Singh National Spokesperson BJP (@rpsinghkhalsa) May 9, 2025

Suresh Nakhua, a BJP Mumbai spokesperson also posted the clip and said: “Statements of Congress leaders and its ecosystem lackeys being used by paki army to shift blame on India.”

Right wing social media handles like @GabbarSingh, @Jaipur Dialogues and @mvmeet have used the same clip that Malviya had posted and sought action against Rathee’s channel from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Dear @AshwiniVaishnaw @HMOIndia I fail to understand why is Dhruv Rathee’s channel active in India, a foreign national with no skin in the game, has such high reach, can spew whatever. Now the enemy is using it to spread propaganda. Hope to see action immediately. pic.twitter.com/INPZJWFu6a

— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) May 9, 2025

This is not the first time that the BJP’s social media handles and the government position on the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan have differed. 

In an X post on Thursday (May 8) claimed that “most wanted” Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar has been killed in Operation Sindoor while Misri had in a press conference the following day said he had “no information at this point” on the issue.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.