Putin a Monster, Tyrant, Despot; Modi Damaged by His Effusive Welcome; India Undermined Its Values

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Putin a monster, tyrant, despot; Modi damaged by his effusive welcome; India undermined its values: Tavleen Singh, Author and Columnist, to Karan Thapar for The Wire. .......................................... One of India’s most well-known and widely read authors and columnists, Tavleen Singh, has said that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is “a tyrant, a dictator, a despot and a monster”. She called his invasion of Ukraine “evil”. She says Prime Minister Modi has damaged his image with the gushing and effusive welcome he accorded President Putin last week. She also said that by welcoming Putin as a hero India has let itself down and undermined what it stands for. She said all of this has done “considerable damage” to India’s image. In the interview, Tavleen Singh was sharply critical of the Indian media for its coverage of the Putin visit. She said “our private television channels grovelled like toadies” and "competed to be more servile and effusive". Tavleen Singh was particularly critical of the 90-minute interview India Today did with President Putin which she described as “fawning”. She ridiculed the sort of questions that were asked by India Today of President Putin whilst strongly pointing out that the channel had failed to ask even “one question about Alexei Navalny, who died last year in a freezing prison cell below the Arctic Circle simply for demanding democratic rights in Russia”. She said the two anchors were "amateur" and came across as "school girls". I will stop there. This is an assertive, hard-hitting and extremely forthright interview where Tavleen Singh has bravely, if not outspokenly, made her points and I do believe you should see it for yourself, which is why I will not further paraphrase or attempt to precis what she has said. Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWtJey46brNr7qHQpN6KLQ/join