Opposition parties and journalists’ organisations have slammed the Narendra Modi government over the Income Tax (I-T) department’s “survey” at BBC offices on Tuesday, with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge calling it “an assault on freedom of press”.
The Editors Guild of India (EGI) said it was “deeply concerned” about the Income Tax surveys and termed it as “a continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass media outlets critical of the ruling establishment”.
In a statement, the EGI pointed out that the tax department’s action came soon after the release of a two-part documentary on “the 2002 violence in Gujarat and the current status of minorities in India” and asserted that the move undermined “constitutional democracy”.
While the BBC said it was “fully cooperating” with the Income Tax authorities who are at its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and hoped that the situation would be resolved “as soon as possible”, the British High Commission didn’t offer a formal response.
Sources, however, told The Hindu that the British government was “closely monitoring” the reports of tax surveys at BBC offices in India.
Political leaders across the spectrum linked the timing of tax surveys with the release of the BBC documentary. Calling it an “intimidation tactic”, the Congress said the action showed that the Modi government was scared of criticism.
“Time and again, there has been an assault on freedom of Press under Modi Government. This is done with brazen and unapologetic vengeance to strangulate remotely critical voices. No Democracy can survive if institutions are used to attack Opposition and Media. People will resist this,” tweeted Congress chief Mr. Kharge.
Former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari tweeted, “This raid/survey is so imbecile, childish & beyond even silly. As hosts of G-20 what are we telling the world that rather than an emerging great power we are an insecure power. Whichever bright spark thought this one up is @PMOIndia’s worst enemy”.
Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh used a Hindi idiom to attack the government and said “Vinash Kale, Viprit Buddhi” (A person’s intellect works against his interest when his doom is round the corner).
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury took a dig at the Prime Minister over his often used phrase “mother of democracy”. “First ban BBC documentaries. No JPC/enquiry into Adani exposures. Now IT raids on BBC offices! India: ‘Mother of democracy’?” Mr. Yechury asked on Twitter.
Rajya Sabha member from the Aam Aadmi Party Sanjay Singh tweeted, “Modi ji, you have reached the heights of dictatorship. First, imposed a ban on the BBC documentary. Now raids at their offices. Don’t forget Modi ji, Hitler’s dictatorship also came to an end. Your dictatorship will also end”.
Reference to Adani
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra asked, “Since agencies doing these Valentine Day ‘Surveys’ how about @IncomeTaxIndia, @SEBI_India & @dir_ed conduct one on govt’s most valued sweetheart Mr. A?” Ms. Moitra’s reference to Mr. A in her tweet was a dig at the Adani group promoter, Gautam Adani, as she had referred to him in a similar fashion in the Lok Sabha.
While PDP president Mehbooba Mufti alleged that it was “brazen hounding” of “those who speak the truth” by the BJP-led government, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said such a move ill behoved a democracy. “In what definition of democracy does raiding a media office fit in? This means you [the government] can do whatever you want, but we are not supposed to raise our voice. If your voice is raised, the government will crush you,” Mr. Thackeray said.
In its statement, the Editors Guild of India said, “This is a trend that undermines constitutional democracy. The Guild demands that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations. Further, the Guild reiterates its earlier demand that governments ensure that such investigations are conducted within the prescribed rules and that they don’t degenerate into instruments of harassment to intimidate independent media.”
In a joint statement, the National Alliance of Journalists and the Delhi Union of Journalists said that “indeed a new era of undeclared press censorship and curbs on independent journalism is spreading to curb all forms of independent thinking aimed to numb all forms of dissent. This, in its opinion, is dangerous and ominous for democracy and smacks of even darker portents”.
Terming it a case of vendetta, the Press Club of India said, “...such an action on an international broadcasting network will damage the reputation and image of India as the largest democracy in the world. We appeal to the Government to restrain its agencies from misusing their powers in order to intimidate the media and put curbs on the freedom of the press”.
The Indian Journalists Union and the Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists also voiced their concern.
