In the latest episode of “Last Week Tonight,” alleged comedian John Oliver took aim at India’s recent election, using his platform to launch a scathing critique of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This move, however, reeks of a hit job rather than anything, making Oliver look and sound like a glorified Dhruv Rathee, who has been posting video after video making baseless allegations and spreading lies against the Modi government.
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Oliver’s segment tried to paint a bleak picture of India’s democratic exercise, the largest in the world, involving over a billion voters. He focused on allegations of voter suppression and electoral irregularities by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), asserting that Modi is poised to win a third term through dubious means – much like what the Congress and other leftists and their supporters have been claiming.
“Over the course of Modi’s rise, he’s chosen to be strategically quiet about his pseudo-authoritarian, pro-Hindu vision of India,” Oliver claimed. He accused Modi of using anti-Muslim rhetoric during the campaign, pointing to a speech where Modi, as alleged by Oliver, falsely claimed his rival party would redistribute wealth to “Muslims“, whom he referred to as “infiltrators.” We all know the truth of those words – Congress scion Rahul Gandhi launched a campaign to talk about wealth distribution, doing an economic survey, and whatnot. Modi was talking about illegal immigrants when he mentioned infiltrators, it is the likes of Rathee and Congress twisted his statement, and Oliver followed suit without cross-checking.
Oliver went further, accusing Modi of “undermining” democratic institutions, stifling political opposition, and restricting press freedom. He mocked Modi’s infrastructure and food distribution (free ration) programmes, comparing the distribution of grain in bags with Modi’s face to Lyndon Johnson rebranding food stamps as “Lyndon’s Lucky Yum-Yum Voucher.”
While the world is seeing and is jealous of India’s economic growth despite the pandemic, Oliver dismissed these claims, citing “suspect statistics and highlighting the widening inequality“. He pointed out that 1 million people now control about 80% of India’s wealth and criticized the country’s drop in the Global Hunger Index, ranking it behind North Korea and Sudan. This is exactly the same propaganda that Dhruv Rathee has also been peddling.
Oliver portrayed the “suppression” of political opposition as a deliberate strategy, mentioning the freezing of opposition party bank accounts and the arrest of opposition leaders just before the election. He suggested that charges against opposition politicians often vanish when they switch to the BJP, implying a corrupt manipulation of justice. Once again, he speaks like a Dhruv Rathee.
Particularly inflammatory was Oliver’s focus on the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and violence under Modi’s leadership. He described instances of police brutality against Muslims and highlighted a chilling incident where an officer allegedly praised Modi after killing three Muslims on a train. “It’s worth remembering: that is not a bug of Modi’s leadership, it is a feature,” Oliver stated, while not making an attempt to understand the truth about India and the propaganda peddled by the West.
Oliver’s segment criticized the international community’s “uncritical, fawning praise” of Modi, urging a more balanced view. “It should be possible to acknowledge the good things that Modi has managed to do for India, while also acknowledging that many Indians live in active fear of what he seems more than happy to represent,” he concluded.
This episode has sparked significant controversy in India, where it is conspicuously absent from JioCinema, the show’s official streaming partner, and unavailable on YouTube. This omission has fueled speculation that the sensitive content led to its exclusion, although there is no confirmation.
Previously, a 2019 episode focusing on Modi and former US President Donald Trump’s visit to India was also removed from Disney+ Hotstar, drawing criticism for censorship. At the time, India’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry denied any involvement.
Oliver’s relentless criticism and one-sided portrayal of Modi’s leadership place him in the same category as Dhruv Rathee, who is notorious for his anti-Modi stance. Oliver’s approach, blending humor with harsh critiques, appears more as a targeted attack rather than a balanced examination of Modi’s tenure.
In conclusion, John Oliver’s latest episode is yet another Western propaganda that has made him look nothing less than a glorified Dhruv Rathee who parrots lines given to him by his paymasters. This so-called comedy show was more a deliberate hit job on Narendra Modi, reflecting a biased perspective that fails to look at the truth.
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