American influencer who caused outrage after snatching baby wombat in Australia issues apology
Melbourne, Mar 15 (AP): An American influencer who sparked outrage after posting a video of her snatching a baby wombat from its mother while in Australia apologised on Saturday, saying she had acted out of concern for the young animal's welfare.
Australian authorities had threatened Sam Jones with deportation after she posted a video on her Instagram account of her running with a wombat joey in her hands from its mother on a roadside at night.
“I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me,” Jones, who also uses the name Samantha Strable, posted on social media.
“The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey,” she added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the video of the young wombat being grabbed was “just an outrage.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said his department was investigating whether Jones had breached the terms of her visa before she left the country on Friday.
“There's never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,” Burke said after she left Australia voluntarily.
Burke said he did not expect Jones would apply for an Australian visa again.
The animal appears to be a common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat. It is a protected marsupial found only in Australia.
Montana-based Jones claimed she became “extremely concerned” when she found the two wombats on a road not moving.
“As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn't get hit,” Jones said.
“However, as is seen from the video, when I walked up to them, the joey did not move or run off. I was concerned it may have been sick or injured, and made a snap judgement to pick up the joey and see if that was the case,” she added.
An unidentified man laughs as he films Jones saying: “I caught a baby wombat.” They both note the mother's sounds of aggression.
Animal welfare experts said Jones could have harmed the joey by dangling it by its two forelegs.
Jones said she returned the joey to its mother and ensured they both left the road.
“I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realised that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have,” she said.
“I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused,” she added.
Jones did not immediately respond on Saturday to The Associated Press's questions, including where and when the baby wombat was captured.
A wombat expert said the video revealed the joey had the skin disease mange and would die without treatment.
Jones also did not tell the AP where she was on Saturday.
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False narrative created over 2002 Gujarat riots, courts found us innocent: PM Modi
New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the discourse around the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat was an attempt to create a false narrative and his political opponents in power at the Centre wanted him to be punished but the courts cleared his name.
In a podcast with Lex Fridman, Modi said the perception that the 2002 riots were the biggest riots ever in Gujarat was an attempt to push misinformation.
"If you review the data from before 2002, you will see that Gujarat faced frequent riots. Curfews were constantly being imposed somewhere. Communal violence would erupt over trivial issues such as kite flying contests or even bicycle collisions," Modi said.
The prime minister said the riots in Gujarat in 1969 lasted for more than six months and that was an era when he was nowhere on the political horizon.
Modi said the Godhra train burning incident took place barely three days after he was elected as a legislator of the Gujarat Assembly.
"It was a tragedy of unimaginable magnitude, people were burned alive. You can imagine, against the backdrop of incidents like the Kandahar hijacking, the attack on parliament, or even 9/11, and then to have so many people killed and burned alive, you can imagine how tense and volatile the situation was," he said.
"Nothing should happen, we also wish so. Everyone would wish there should be peace," the prime minister said during the podcast released on Sunday.
Modi, who was the Gujarat chief minister at that time, said the big incident at Godhra was the sparking point and violence took place. He said that a fake narrative was spread regarding the Godhra case.
"But, the courts investigated the matter thoroughly and found us completely innocent. Those who were truly responsible have faced justice from the courts," he said.
The prime minister said his political opponents were in power at the Centre when the violence took place and they were keen to see him punished over the allegations.
"At that time, our political opponents were in power, and naturally they wanted all allegations against us to stick. They wanted to see us punished. Despite their relentless efforts, the judiciary analysed the situation meticulously twice and ultimately found us completely innocent," Modi said.
The prime minister said the most important thing was that Gujarat, which used to witness violence almost every year, has not seen riots since 2002.
"Over the past 22 years, there hasn't been a single major riot in Gujarat.
"Gujarat remains completely peaceful," Modi said.
The prime minister said his approach has always been to avoid vote bank politics.
"Our mantra has been, sabka saath sabka vikas aur sabka prayas. We have moved away from the politics of appeasement practised by our predecessors to the politics of aspiration," Modi said during his over three-hour interaction.
He highlighted how some people tried to malign his image after the riots but ultimately justice prevailed and the courts cleared his name.
