Letters to The Editor — October 5, 2023 Premium

Raids and the media

India, ironically, the mother of democracy, has slid in its ranking in the World Press Freedom Index. It should not come as a surprise that there have been massive searches of the premises of journalists, authors, academics, contributors and even satirists associated with the news portal, NewsClick.

What is surprising, however, is the use of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the allegations of a “terror case with Chinese links”. In today’s India, pursuing independent journalism is becoming a challenging task.

Any attempt to muzzle the media including growing social media critical of the ruling establishment will sound the death knell for our great democracy.

S.K. Choudhury,

Bengaluru

The arrests raise serious concerns about the state of democracy and press freedom in India. Press freedom is a fundamental human right.

A free press that can hold those in power accountable is the sine qua non of democracy. Look at the irony of what is happening in India.

The government, which is never tired of saying that India is the mother of democracy, is hampering independent and fearless journalism by unleashing investigating agencies on media houses that and journalists who do not toe its line.

This does not augur well for Indian democracy which has been on a backslide for quite some time.

Kurian Mathew,

Kochi, Kerala

Asian Games performance

A cursory look at the news would present a picture of a resurgent India in terms of athletics. However, the true perspective is available in the medals table, where even in the Asian context, India was fourth while China’s count is over 10 times that of India’s. Tiny Chinese Taipei has a medal count that is not too bad.

R. Thomas Paul,

Bengaluru