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BBC, 28 February 2002 The Week, 28 April 2002

(top right) The Week, one of India’s
most respected magazines, described
CNN, 18 April 2002
how Vajpayee, who had presented a
moderate image for many years, had fi-
nally revealed his true face with his ag-
gressive policies, in an article titled
“The mask is off”
The strongly worded speech given by
Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee attract-
ed wide coverage from the world press.
Vajpayee, a supporter of Hindu nation-
alists who justifies attacks on Muslims,
said: “Only Hindus can decide how free
members of other faiths living in India
can be.” The speech was covered by
CNN under the headline “Vajpayee re-
veals his true colors” The report, writ-
ten by Mark Tully, stated that Vajpayee
also supported Mayor Narendra Modi,
regarded as responsible for the
Gujarat attacks. In a report titled
“Vajpayee’s Ayodhya dilemma” the BBC stated that extremist Hindu nationalists
were very powerful in Vajpayee’s party, and that the opinion that Vajpayee had fi-
nally revealed his true face was becoming more prevalent across the world.