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On November 2, journalist Rana Ayyub received threatening phone calls from a person claiming to be a Canadian resident, demanding that she write about 1984 anti-Sikh riots and warning her that she would be shot at her residence if she failed to do so. Rana alleged that she was sent a video of former prime minister Indira Gandhi with the word ‘’killed’’ written over it. The caller also allegedly possessed the residential addresses of both her and her father.
In a complaint submitted to the senior police inspector of Koparkhairane police station in Mumbai, Rana said that she received several text messages, voice calls, and video calls from a number saved as "SOPU Group" and displaying the Canadian flag alongside an image of Lawrence Bishnoi.
According to her, the caller demanded that she write about the 1984 riots in The Washington Post, where she is currently an Opinions columnist. “The caller specifically asked me to write an article honouring Bhai Beant Singh and Bhai Satwant Singh, who they said had taken revenge on behalf of Sikhs,” she stated.
The complaint further said, “The individual then posted my residential address in Navi Mumbai, stating that if I did not write the article, they would have me killed at my residence by shooters. They asked that I do not see this as a request but a warning. The person also mentioned my father's address in Uttar Pradesh. My father, who is Mumbai-based, is currently visiting our ancestral village along with my mother. No one outside our family has knowledge of this information. The caller continued issuing explicit death threats to both me and my father.”
Rana said she blocked the caller’s number and reported the death threats to the Commissioner of Navi Mumbai Milind Bharambe. Police officials soon visited Rana and her parents.
In her complaint to the Koparkhairane police, she urged that immediate action be taken to ensure the safety of her and her family, and requested that a first information report be registered. However, no FIR has been filed yet.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonprofit organisation that promotes press freedom worldwide has called for her protection. CPJ said, “Indian authorities must take immediate steps to guarantee the safety of journalist and Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub and her family, after she received multiple threats via her phone from someone who knew her home address.”
In November 2024, Rana was the subject of an intense doxxing campaign, which led to her personal details, including her phone number and multiple passwords being circulated online. “I had registered an FIR at the Koparkhairane Police Station against multiple Twitter handles, initiated by the handle @hindutvawatch,” she stated, adding that investigation is ongoing.
“I request that..if possible, that the Canadian High Commission be informed of this incident involving an individual claiming to be a Canadian resident. A thorough investigation is essential to determine the motives and identity of the person who threatened me,” she wrote.
A 2023 report published by the New York-based International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) had stated that the online violence targeted against Rana was orchestrated with a clear objective “to silence her”. It had observed, “The hallmarks of these attacks are the digital ‘lynch mobs’ that align themselves with India’s Hindu nationalist ruling party. Such attacks are invariably overtly misogynistic and disinformation-laced. In Ayyub’s case, they also operate at the intersection of religious bigotry, with her Muslim faith being targeted in attacks that have seen her branded a ‘jihadi’ and a ‘terrorist’.”