In a scathing criticism of The Irish Times editorial on the terrorist attack in , Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra strongly condemned the newspaper’s approach, accusing it of failing to condemn the violence and instead providing cover for the terrorists and their sponsors.
On 6th May, the Indian envoy published an elaborate rebuttal to the piece of propaganda put out by The Irish Times, wherein he expressed his disappointment that the publication focused on criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “rattling sabres,” while failing to show solidarity with the victims of the attack.
Sharing a post on X, Mishra wrote, “Our reply to a malicious Irish Times editorial on the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Instead of condemning terror, sympathising with innocent victims, it provides Cover Fire for the terrorists and their sponsors by charging PM Modi of rattling sabres and equating India with Pakistan.”
In a letter to the editor of Irish Times, Mishra said, “Your editorial on the heinous act of terrorism in Pahalgam in India’s union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is not only lacking in professional objectivity but is in sharp contrast with the expressions of sympathy the Indian embassy has received from the people of Ireland, led by Taoiseach Micheal Martin who stated that Ireland stands in solidarity with the people of India (Wider conflict must be avoided, Editorial, April 28th).
He pointed out that the international community, including leaders like Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union, and the United Nations Security Council, had condemned the attack in the strongest terms. He also highlighted the omission in the editorial of key details, such as the UN’s call to hold the perpetrators accountable. In contrast, The Irish Times chose to focus on the Indian government’s actions in Jammu and Kashmir.
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“The Pahalgam attack has been condemned worldwide. President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen was among the first global leaders to condemn the vile terror attack. The UN Security Council also unanimously condemned in strongest terms the terrorist attack and underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. (The Irish Times failed to mention this main operative portion of the UN statement). It is bizarre that instead of standing with the innocent victims, The Irish Times has chosen to provide cover fire for the terrorists by charging the prime minister, Narendra Modi, of rattling sabres and equating India with Pakistan, the global epicentre of terrorism, known for harbouring UN-designated terrorists and providing a safe haven for many years to Osama bin Laden,” the letter added.
Mishra further said that since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had witnessed significant development, with a booming economy, foreign investments, and a thriving tourism sector.
The letter stated, “Contrary to The Irish Times’s misperception about Jammu and Kashmir’s limited autonomy replaced by direct rule and a harsh security crackdown on Hindu nationalist Modi’s election in 2019, the people have
witnessed unprecedented economic and infrastructural development. There has been a revival of domestic and foreign investments and booming tourism, as well as a fully-fledged democratic political process since the abrogation of the temporary Article 370 from the constitution of India in 2019. The people of Jammu and Kashmir elected a democratic government in a free and fair election in 2024 with 63.9 per cent turnout.”
In his letter, Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra further stated that a significant outrage prevails in India following the Islamic terror attack in Pahalgam and the nation stands united behind the government to punish the perpetrators of the dastardly attack.
“There is outrage in India over the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The entire nation, including people in the Kashmir valley, all political parties and leaders of the opposition, and all prominent Muslim leaders and civil society, are united behind the government of India in its determination to punish the perpetrators and conspirators of the massacre…” Mishra added.
“The Irish Times has been extremely negative towards India”: Indian Ambassador to Ireland tells OpIndia
Responding to OpIndia’s email query, Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra said that The Irish Times has been “extremely negative” towards India. Mishra said that while most of their India-related stories are sourced from news wires/agencies, they have been publishing editorials and opinion pieces that have been one-sided, mostly critical of India and harsh against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hinting at a targeted attempt at maligning India’s image and pushing narratives biased against India.
“The Irish Times has been extremely negative towards India. While most of their India-related stories are based on international media/agency reports, occasionally, it has been publishing editorial opinions, all of them in the past three years have been one-sided, critical of India, particularly harsh in attacking Prime Minister Modi,” the Indian diplomat stated.
Akhilesh Mishra added that the Indian Embassy in Ireland has time and again called The Irish Times for publishing editorials replete with anti-Modi and anti-India rhetoric. The Indian envoy pointed out that beyond reasonable criticism, The Irish Times has perpetually been biased against India and has also been “insensitive towards the sentiments of Hindus.”
Besides the recent editorial titled “The Irish Times view on India and Pakistan: wider conflict must be avoided”, Mishra said that the Irish media outlet had published a hit job against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Irish newspaper published an editorial titled,’ The Irish Times view on the Indian election: Modi tightens his grip’ wherein it alleged that India has somehow fallen prey to ‘intolerant Hindu-first majoritarianism.’
“India’s democratic credentials have been severely tarnished,” The Irish Timesclaimedwhile trying to build a case for Arvind Kejriwal, who is an accused in the high-profile Delhi liquor scam. The newspaper had also compared the Indian Prime Minister with Turkish Islamist leader Recep Erdogan.
Back then, Akhilesh Mishra had strongly responded to The Irish Times’s unfounded allegations made in its propaganda-laden editorial.
Similarly, The Irish Times had, in August 2023, published an anti-Modi editorial wherein it mindlessly blamed the Modi government for inciting ethnic violence in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur. The Irish Times not only slandered the Meitei Hindu community while whitewashing the crimes of Kuki Christians and downplaying the involvement of Kuki-Chin groups in the cultivation of opium and trafficking drugs, including synthetic drugs, from Myanmar and Manipur through Mizoram and Bangladesh. The newspaper had also peddled the ‘Muslim minorities in danger from right-wing Hindu extremists’ lie while making no mention of Islamist violence against Hindus on numerous occasions.
Indian envoy Akhilesh Mishra had appropriately responded to this propaganda-laden editorial as well back then. Mishra pointed out that his rejoinders were published on The Irish Times’s website in the “letters to the editor” section; however, the original letters were “severely mutilated” by the Irish newspaper.
Regarding the question whether the newspaper has responded to his rebuttal, the Indian diplomat stated, “Irish Times has not responded to our rejoinders, neither has changed its biased view of India, particularly, insensitivity to the sentiments of Hindus. To get an idea of the instinctive negativity of Irish Times towards India, you may see the original letter of the Ambassador, which has been severely mutilated.”
OpIndia also asked about Ireland’s stance on the Pahalgam terror attack, wherein 26 people were religiously profiled and shot dead by Pakistan-backed terrorists. The ambassador said that the Prime Minister of Ireland extended condolences and solidarity with the victims of the attack and the people of India.
Regarding Ireland’s position on India’s anti-terror strikes in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor, the Indian envoy said: “So far, the Irish side has not issued any statement on Operation Sindoor.”
The Irish Times or The Pakistan Times: Paints the victim of terror as a troublemaker, sympathises with the terror-sponsoring Pakistan
The Irish Times in its editorial published on 28th April wrote essentially toed the Pakistani line as elaborately highlighted by Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra. From the very onset, the editorial sets a tone wherein India comes across as an aggressor despite being a victim of Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terrorism and Pakistan as a terrified victim.
“…Pakistan has denied responsibility and says it is willing to cooperate with an independent international investigation of the killings. And India has failed to produce evidence beyond claims of Pakistan’s historic support for terrorism. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with loud domestic support, is rattling sabres, promising severe punishment and the razing of terror safe havens. Reports suggest Indian diplomats are seeking to build backing for what Modi has called the harshest response.”
The editorial appeared more to be a propaganda piece by the ‘Pakistan Times’ instead. The Irish Times failed to mention the fact that India had sent multiple dossiers to Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, stating that the attacks were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. The Indian investigation found that Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, who continues to live in Pakistan under the patronage of the Pakistani establishment, had masterminded the attacks in collusion with ISI handlers.
India even allowed a judicial commission of Pakistan to visit India on March 14-21, 2012, during which they recorded statements of witnesses.
Despite providing ample evidence, Pakistan’s court allowed Hafiz Saeed to walk free, absolving him of any involvement in the cowardly attack that claimed 166 lives. In 2017, India demanded a re-investigation into the case, however, Pakistan outrightly denied the demand.
A redux of Pakistan’s nonchalance in acting against Islamic terrorism orchestrated from its soil was seen in 2016, following the Pathankot terror attack. After the January 2016 attack, India had handed over a letter rogatory (LR) from the NIA (National Investigation Agency) to Pakistan on 2nd March 2016 and a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was allowed to visit Pathankot and collect evidence from Indian investigators for five days in March 2016. All the evidences including DNA samples of four Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Fidayeen attackers Nasir Hussain, Abu Bakar, Umar Farooq and Abdul Qayum (residents of Pakistan’s Punjab and Sindh) were handed over to Pakistani authorities, call record details, individual dossiers, financial details of Al-Rehmat Trust (financial arm of JeM) were provided to JIT. Moreover, JIT was also allowed to converse with 16 witnesses.
However, what was the end result of this? Islamabad violated the principle of reciprocity, and India’s NIA was not allowed to conduct an investigation in Pakistan. The hostile neighbour also refused to share evidence with Indian investigators. Forget taking action or handing over Pakistani terrorists to India, Islamabad did not even cooperate in the investigation. Even after the Pulwama attack in 2019, a letter rogatory was sent to Pakistan seeking information on four Pakistani terrorists involved in the attack, however, the Pakistani government did not cooperate.
Yet, The Irish Times expects India to share evidence with Pakistan so that their government can once again sit on it for years, do nothing and eventually, either proclaim all the perpetrators as holier than thou or outrightly deny their presence in Pakistan. Islamabad’s perpetual failure in acting against Islamic terror outfits operating from its soil indicates that they are backed and shielded by the Pakistani government, army and the ISI. In fact, the Pakistani establishment has patronised them to act as their proxy against India, since the hostile neighbour knows it cannot stand a chance against India in a conventional war, given the Pakistan Army’s history of never losing an election and never winning a war.
The Irish Times further lamented the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35a, insinuating that the Hindu-nationalist Modi government stripped India’s only Muslim-majority state’s limited autonomy. While emphasising the religious demography of Jammu and Kashmir, The Irish Times chose not to mention that this region was not once Hindu-majority, and just three decades back, had its Kashmiri Hindu populace killed, raped and ostracised from their own motherland essentially for being Hindu. It is the same Hindu-hating Jihadist mindset that fuelled the Kashmiri Pandit exodus in the early 1990s and the Pahalgam attack in April 2025. Abrogation of Article 370 and 35A was not done to oppress Kashmiri Muslims but was only a course correction. A temporary provision that managed to prevail for way to long than its intended existence of time was relegated to the veritable dustbin. Its removal was also upheld by the Supreme Court of India.
“The ominous escalation in tensions over Pahalgam, the fruit of the bitter sectarian divisions that go back to partition, has the terrifying potential to drift into all-out war between the two countries,” The Irish Times editorials says towards the end of the piece.
The publication fails to understand that the ominous escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan following Pahalgam are not rooted in sectarian divisions; rather, the Indo-Pak animosity is rooted in the latter’s blatant hatred for Hindus and non-Muslims as reiterated by Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir just days before the Pahalgam attack. The Hindu majority of India has largely co-existed peacefully alongside Muslims, Sikhs, and other religious communities, on the contrary, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has perpetually killed, raped, oppressed and discriminated against its Hindu and other non-Muslim minorities since 1947. In the form of Operation Sindoor, India has told Pakistan and the sympathisers of Islamist terror that the country will no longer tolerate religious profiling-based killing of its people, no more for the sake of sustaining the chimera of ‘Aman ki asha’ (hope of peace).