As part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's increasingly aggressive attack on the media, Delhi police searched the residences of journalists and contributors from news source NewsClick. They confiscated their phones and computers on Tuesday, October 3.
Modi's Admin vs. NewsClick
For years, Indian authorities have suspected NewsClick of financial irregularities. In recent weeks, they have ramped up their investigation, claiming that the news outlet got funds from China, a geopolitical adversary of India.
According to The Washington Post, at least 30 cities in India were reportedly raided at the same time on Tuesday morning. Local media sites said that New Delhi police had specifically targeted NewsClick journalists by stating a strict anti-terror law.
NewsClick has always said the allegations of wrongdoing are false. Some of its supporters believe that the government's constant inspection was motivated by a desire to silence dissenting opinions. On Tuesday, detectives questioned several people connected to NewsClick, including current and past workers, freelance writers, and even friends of staff members.
The Editors Guild of India released a statement stressing that although individual cases of wrongdoing must be investigated, this should not be allowed to restrict free speech or silence critical voices.
Since its founding in 2009, this news outlet in question has focused on reporting on issues of social injustice and public dissatisfaction with the administration. The majority of the NewsClick content consists of English and Hindi video remarks uploaded to YouTube and other social media sites.
Press freedom in India has been steadily eroding for some time, and the raids on Tuesday are only the most recent example of this pattern. According to Reporters Without Borders' 2023 World Press Freedom Index, the nation rated 161 out of 180 countries and territories for press freedom.
Censorship, intimidation, arrests, and financial constraints all hinder India's independent media. Authorities in India frequently use accusations of financial wrongdoing as justification for raids on pro-opposition media. Also affected are international media outlets.
#WATCH | Delhi: Delhi Police Special Cell officials leave NewsClick office with Founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick Prabir Purkayastha. pic.twitter.com/Gcm20skW9b
— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2023
Raided Individuals
On Tuesday, authorities arrested a number of people for interrogation, including some well-known Indian journalists. A video posted on social media shows police officers taking NewsClick's editor-in-chief, Prabir Purkayastha, from his workplace.
Satirist Sanjay Rajoura is only one of the many who fell victim to the crackdown. A police officer arrived at Rajoura's house between 6:30 and 7:00 AM local time, according to his attorney Ilin Saraswat, in an interview with The Washington Post.
Police confiscated Rajoura's iPhone, laptop, numerous DVDs, and other papers. He was being questioned about his time at NewsClick. According to his lawyer, Rajoura left the media organization about two years ago.
Sohail Hashmi, a historian, was among those targeted. He has neither written for nor contributed to the publication. Hashmi is acquainted with top journalists at NewsClick and has lately appeared as a guest on two of their shows.
Other journalists who were raided include Bhasha Singh, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, and Irfan Khan, as reported by BBC.
