'Blatantly racist': Norwegian newspaper under fire for cartoon depicting PM Modi as snake charmer

A Norwegian newspaper came under fire on Tuesday for depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a snake charmer in a cartoon published with an opinion piece. The cartoon, which surfaced on social media, has triggered backlash from netizens with people calling out the racial stereotyping.

The illustration, published in Norway's leading daily newspaper Aftenposten, depicts PM Modi with a snake charmer's flute and a fuel-station filling pipe as the snake. The article is title "A clever and slightly annoying man".

This comes at a time when PM Modi just finished his Norway visit, where he participated in the 3rd India-Nordic Summit. The visit was ridden with controversies as a Norwegian journalist urged the prime minister to take some questions from the media, after he and his counterpart, Jonas Gahr Støre, made press statements following a meeting in Oslo on Monday. Modi, however, did not take the question and walked out of the room.

This was followed by the journalist Helle Lyng being invited to a MEA briefing where raised question about human rights violations in India, leading to a dramatic confrontation with Sibi George, the Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs.

'Colonial-era racism'

The cartoon has triggered strong reactions on the internet with netizens calling it "blatantly racist."

"World's freest media' showing the world that they are nothing but a bunch of White supremacists who are still living with a racial bias against India," wrote a user.

"A foreign leader is visiting your country and that's how you treat them that's how you guys treat your guests. You guys should be ashamed of yourself," wrote another, tagging Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Another one wrote, "This isn't journalism. it's colonial-era racism dressed up as commentary. They can't stomach India's rise, so they reach for the same tired stereotypes their grandparents used.