NEW DELHI, 3 Oct: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has expressed grave concern over the police raids at the homes of several journalists and writers associated with news and current affairs website Newsclick in the early hours of Tuesday in Delhi, “following investigation related to alleged ‘terror links’ and under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).”
In a press statement, the IJU said that it is worried that the seizure of laptops and mobile phones of journalists without due process puts their sources of information, “which at all costs must be protected,” at great risk.
The raids conducted by the Delhi Police at 30 premises include those at the homes of Newsclick editor Prabir Purkayastha, veteran journalists Urmilesh and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, journalist Bhasha Singh, Satyam Tiwari, Aditi Nigam, Sumedha Pal, and writers and contributors Githa Hariharan and Anuradha Raman.
The raids were conducted in connection with a case registered against NewsClick on 17 August, invoking sections of the UAPA, along with sections of IPC – 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), and 120 (b) (party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence).
The case was filed days after a New York Times investigation alleged that the news portal had received funding from a network pushing Chinese propaganda. The website has been under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for an alleged fraudulent infusion of foreign funds to the tune of Rs 38.05 crore for three years.
In the statement, IJU President Geetartha Pathak and Secretary-General Sabina Inderjit said that “the raids seek to intimidate the journalists and media outlets which are critical of the government,” and that “usage of laws such as UAPA is an attack on the freedom of the press.”
The IJU said that, while due process must apply in any case, “the government should not be going on a witch hunt and misuse the laws and enforcement agencies to silence the media.”
It urged its members and the journalist fraternity to “do all to defend press freedom, which is gravely under threat.”
