Police have carried out early morning raids on a news portal office and the homes of almost 50 journalists, activists and comedians across India under anti-terrorism laws, deepening concerns over a crackdown on freedom of expression in the country.
Delhi police carried out the searches on numerous locations on Tuesday morning. Several journalists were detained, with their phones and laptops confiscated, and some were taken in for questioning. Delhi police confirmed that two journalists had been arrested in the case.
Those targeted were associated with NewsClick, an independent news site that was recently embroiled in accusations of being funded by China, after a New York Times investigation linked the organisation with the US tech mogul Neville Roy Singham, who it alleged was using his funds to further the agenda of the Chinese government. Singham denies the allegations.
Delhi police have registered a case against NewsClick and arrested its founder, Prabir Purkayastha, under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, an anti-terrorism law that has increasingly been used to detain government critics without bail, alleging it had “received dubious funds to spread Chinese propaganda”.
India is involved in a border dispute with China, and anti-China suspicion runs high in the government, while allegations of being funded by China are also routinely slung at government critics.
NewsClick had previously denied the allegations and said “any insinuation that we function as a mouthpiece of the Communist party of China or other interests” was false.
But after the New York Times article was published, the subject was raised by an MP from the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). Soon after NewsClick’s Twitter account was suspended briefly and it was put under investigation by the central government agency the enforcement directorate.
The journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, the activist Teesta Setalvad and the comedian Sanjay Rajoura were also among those raided and taken in for police questioning.
The information and broadcasting minister, Anurag Thakur, said he did not “need to justify the raids”.
“The probe agencies are independent and they are doing their jobs by following … if someone has done something wrong, the probe agencies do their job,” he added.
“It’s written nowhere that probe agencies can’t take action if money has come to you from wrong sources or something objectionable has been done.”
NewsClick, which is seen as one of the few remaining independent news organisations in India, was under investigation in 2021 and subjected to several raids by government agencies.
Activists and media watchdogs expressed concern that the searches were an escalation of a crackdown on independent media and critical voices under the BJP government, led by Narendra Modi.
Several independent online news organisations, fact-checkers and thinktanks have experienced similar raids and seizure of their devices after publishing material critical of the government.
In February, the offices of the BBC in India underwent a three-day raid by the tax authorities, weeks after the release of a BBC documentary that examined rising tensions between the Indian prime minister and the country’s Muslim minority.
Journalists have also faced criminal charges, harassment by government agencies and imprisonment for their reporting. In this year’s World Press Freedom index, India dropped to 150 of 180 countries, its lowest ranking on record.
Shabnam Hashmi, whose brother the oral historian and social activist Sohail Hashmi was among those raided, said in a social media post: “In the name of legal proceedings, what the common people face today is sheer intimidation, harassment and fear by the Indian state.
“We will not be silenced by such intimidating tactics by the government to stop citizens exercising the constitution rights.”
Apar Gupta, who heads the Internet Freedom Foundation in India, said “seizure of a journalists phone and digital devices is a wider trend that requires reform and safeguards”.
The India press club said it was “deeply concerned” by the raids and that its members “stand in solidarity with the journalists and demand the government to come out with details”.
