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"Free the press."
"Stop criminalising honest journalism."
"Say no to the McCarthyism of the Indian media."
These were some of the posters seen at a protest staged by journalists at New Delhi's Press Club of India on Wednesday, 4 October, against the Delhi Police's crackdown on news portal NewsClick.
This comes a day after the arrests of NewsClick Founder Prabir Purkayastha and its HR Head Amit Chakraborty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) after day-long searches at over 35 locations linked to the news portal, its employees, and contributors.
Historian Ramachandra Guha, author Arundhati Roy, political activists Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha were some of the prominent names in attendance at the PCI meet.
‘Never Before...': Paranjoy Guha Thakurta Calls Raids ‘Unprecedented’
Addressing a large crowd, veteran journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, who was interrogated by the police on Tuesday, said that he was one of the few people who had received both his SIM card and phone back after the Delhi Police had seized them.
Thakurta recounted his ordeal and how he was taken from his home in Gurugram after he initially refused to surrender his electronic devices.
“They asked me if I knew Neville Roy Singham, to which I informed them that I did not. Then they asked me if I had spoken to S. Bhatnagar from the United States, to which I told them that I had, because he is my brother-in-law,” Guha Thakurta said.
The case has been filed on the basis of an NYT alleging that NewsClick is one of the organisations funded by US-based tech mogul Neville Roy Singham for "pushing Chinese propaganda."
“Let’s assume The New York Times (NYT) is correct. The question is: Where does terror money come into all of this?” he asked.
"The message is coming very very clearly. It's coming to every single journalist, every single independent journalist. What happened yesterday (3 October) will have a chilling effect on independent journalism in this country...I do see this as a black day for the press and media in India," the senior journalist said.
Guha Thakurta termed the raids carried out by the Delhi Police ‘unprecedented’.
"It (UAPA) has been imposed on journalists in the past. Some of the people involved in the Bhima Koregaon case were journalists. So, it's not as if it's not been imposed on journalists, but never before, on the basis of an FIR lodged a month and a half ago, has the Delhi Police had hundreds of policemen visit the homes of journalists and some non-journalists at 6:30 am in the morning," Thakurta told The Quint.
Veteran journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta addressing the protest meet at the Press Club of India.
(Photo: Varsha Sriram/The Quint)
"This kind of operation is unprecedented. It's never happened before. I don't think even in the Emergency, which was 1975-77 have you had this kind of an operation," the senior journalist said.
'Attempt To Terrorise Journalists', 'A Fishing Expedition': Activists Slam Raids
Standing in solidarity with NewsClick, Man Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy said that the BJP-led government had once again used the UAPA to limit the freedom of the press in the country.
"They have collapsed the definition between journalism and terrorism. We have a prime minister who has never addressed a single press conference in his entire 10 years in office. You can tell that there is a huge contempt and disrespect for the press...this is to intimidate them and send a message to them. I think it's also a sign of desperation from the government," Roy told The Quint.
The author also called it a "fishing expedition" and "intimidation tactic" to confiscate people's phones and devices. "Our phones are an organ in our body, you know. You are taking their bank details and emails. You have no right to do that. I really think the courts should put a stop to it that they cannot come and take away your phones," she said.
Meanwhile, political activist and Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav called the raids "an attempt to terrorise journalists."
"The manner of the raid, the timing of the raid, and the choice of persons who have been selected leave absolutely no doubt that this is simply an attempt to send a message to journalists...It is absolutely clear that these (raids) things are cooked up, trumped up, and the point is simply to terrorise," Yadav told The Quint.
"The whole point is to send a message. The whole point is to silence everyone who dares to question. That’s the whole point. It has nothing to do with the actual case, nothing to do with the money, nothing to do with China. It is to do with this government and it’s insecurities," he added.
'A Distraction Tactic': RJD MP Manoj Jha
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha called the raids a "distraction tactic" by the BJP government post the release of the caste census survey in Bihar.
"The Bihar government releasing the Caste Census Report has angered them (BJP). They are opposed to data and numbers. So they directed (raids on NewsClick employees). We released the report on 2 October. They conducted the raids the next day. But believe me, their political philosophy is nearing its end," Jha told The Quint.
"Why are we protesting today? Look at the list of the journalists questioned. They will not sell their ethics. They will not bow down. They will not salute before you (government). They kept exposing you. They didn't even spare the Congress either. But you (govt) are unparalleled. You send ED after those who question you. You scare them. You threaten them. This is the tendency of all fascist governments," Jha said.
'A Long-Drawn Battle'
Siddharth Varadarajan, Founder Editor of The Wire and member of DigiPUB, a 11-member digital-only news association, told The Quint that the raids were a "smokescreen" to put pressure on journalistic activity.
"The allegation is that you took money from an investor in America and that person is close to the Chinese. Well, Indian Companies have taken investments from Chinese companies directly.... Is that considered a crime in India. If so, when are you going to proceed against all companies that have Chinese financing?" Varadarajan asked.
"The whole thing is just a smokescreen in order to discredit an attack and put pressure on legitimate, bonafide journalistic activity in the hope that this thriving ecosystem of digital media will somehow be intimidated and forced to back off or maybe the public will be scared because the government portrays them as 'anti-national'. That's the agenda here," he told The Quint.
Terming it a "long-term battle," PCI president Gautam Lahiri said, “More journalists will be harassed...we are thankful to the government that they are giving us the opportunity to protest against them and they are uniting us."
As many as 18 media organisations on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud demanding his intervention in cases where journalists are facing action from the government.
The letter requested that the judiciary “confront power with a fundamental truth — that there is a Constitution to which we are all answerable to” and stated that the invocation of the UAPA was “specially chilling."
Meanwhile, NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty have been sent to police custody for seven days. A Delhi court on Wednesday also issued notice to the police on a plea moved by Purkayastha seeking a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) filed under the UAPA case.
The news portal had alleged that it had not been provided with a copy of the FIR registered against them.
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