The Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur alleged on Friday that The New York Times was disseminating falsehoods about India, characterizing an opinion article published by the newspaper on press freedom in Kashmir as deceptive and imaginary.

“New York Times had long back dropped all pretensions of neutrality while publishing anything about India. NYT‘s so-called opinion piece on freedom of press in Kashmir is mischievous and fictitious, published with a sole motive to spread a propaganda about India and its democratic institutions and values,” Thakur posted on Twitter.

“This is in continuation with what NYT and a few other link-minded foreign media have been spreading lies about India and our democratically elected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Such lies can’t last long,” the minister added

Thakur’s  was reacting to  the publication of an op-ed in The New York Times, written by Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of The Kashmir Times, which spoke about restrictions on the free flow of information in Kashmir.

Bhasin argues that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repressive media policies are destroying Kashmiri journalism, creating an information vacuum in a region of about 13 million people.