Raids on journalists

THE early-morning raids on Tuesday by the Delhi Police on dozens of places connected with a news portal, NewsClick, and its employees and associates in the NCR, as also human rights activists Teesta Setalvad and Gautam Navlakha, reek of a targeted attempt to muzzle the press by the weaponisation of state agencies. While electronic devices of journalists have been seized, some of them, including founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick Prabir Purkayastha, were taken away by the cops for questioning. Later, Purkayastha was arrested and the portal’s office was sealed. A case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was filed against NewsClick on August 17 as the authorities suspected the use of foreign funds by the portal to ‘push the Chinese agenda’. This was even claimed by a New York Times investigative report.

A peek into the background of the clampdown reveals a thread of probes and action taken by the Economic Offences Wing, Enforcement Directorate and the police into allegations of the news portal receiving dubious funding from China. The ED is believed to have traced deposits totalling Rs 39 crore from questionable sources in the company’s account in the past three years.

Even as the authorities carry on with their job of ascertaining whether the promoters violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) or indulged in other unlawful activities, those working for the news portal must not be harassed. Individual journalists with a proven track record should not be held responsible for financial misdemeanours, if any, of the promoters and funders. Insofar as freedom of speech is concerned, India’s declining press freedom rating is an eye-opener: the country slipped 11 spots from its place in 2022 to the 161st rank out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index-2023.