This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.
The bullying and humiliation recently faced by an Indian-origin journalist from a prominent member of the South Asian diaspora and a Conservative Party donor, Rami Ranger, highlight the price one pays for questioning right-wing groups like the Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB).
New Delhi’s new normal – in which journalists increasingly face online and offline harassment from politicians and their cohorts – has heightened concerns, including in the diaspora, where powerful and influential members are trying to intimidate journalists by imitating their counterparts back home.
It all started in October last year, when Ranger invited Poonam Joshi, an independent Indian-origin journalist, to an event celebrating Diwali at the House of Lords, which was organised by HFB, with which Ranger is associated. Fugitive godman Nithyanada, who is a rape accused, was the chief guest of the bash organised by two senior members of the ruling Conservative Party, including Ranger.
Joshi has frequently raised concerns about the right-wing views of the HFB and some of its members. Ranger insulted and belittled Joshi on several occasions on social media and in person, the Lord’s Commissioner for Standards found. In a tweet, Ranger accused Joshi of “showing your poor upbringing by bullying”. In another, he remarked, “You have become the epitome of filth and garbage reflecting your upbringing and showing what masterpiece your parents have given to society, a twisted personality.”
Standards Commissioner Akbar Khan ruled that Ranger made disparaging comments like “know your place” and “don’t try to be too big for your shoes.”
In the classic right-wing style of ridiculing journalists, Ranger referred to Joshi several times as a “presstitute” ― a term applied in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled India to journalists who oppose the government and the party in power — and accused her of making up a story on Twitter claiming that she had reported her husband, a BBC presenter, for domestic abuse. In addition, Ranger said: “Everyone knows me in Parliament. Do they know you? Furthermore, ‘Do you have any money?’”
In its 99-page report, the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards ruled that Ranger had broken the House’s code of conduct.
The scathing report stated, “There was an imbalance of power between Lord Ranger and Ms. Joshi by reason of Lord Ranger’s authority, his public position as a member of the House of Lords, his wealth and his social standing, and his connections and associations with other senior political figures. He was acutely aware of this imbalance of power and abused it by persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating Ms Joshi.”
While the Lord’s Commissioner found that his repeated tweets and messages were not intrinsically sexist, it categorically mentioned that Ranger had worsened the offence by trying to justify it as a cultural phenomenon. “He demonstrated limited insight into his behaviour, preferring to excuse himself by saying that his conduct was somehow acceptable in an Asian cultural context,” the report states.
The Commissioner further found that Lord Ranger was unwilling to take responsibility for his actions, had no understanding of how to change his attitude, and had engaged in “repeated and deliberate” activity. Earlier, in January, he himself admitted that his statement made in a letter regarding Pakistani journalists and a later TV interview about grooming and drug dealing in the Pakistani community were “racially charged” and had “caused offence.”
In its report, the commissioner also criticised some of the messages Joshi had sent to Ranger in their correspondence. However, it had a “very significant element of provocation caused by Joshi.”
Expressing remorse, Ranger apologised and agreed to attend training about his conduct.
However, will his counterparts in the Indian subcontinent ever be held to account for their everyday conduct towards journalists, the latest example of which was provided by a senior Modi minister?
