Raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the offices of Newsclick.in and home of its editor-in-chief in New Delhi over foreign funding, have come under criticism from many associations comprising journalists and media organisations. The raids that started on Tuesday morning, were ongoing on Wednesday afternoon when this copy was written. The Press Club of India (PCI) has called it an “unsavoury attack on the media in a bid to intimidate and silence critical journalism”. The Editors Guild of India (EGI) in a statement said that it is deeply concerned about the raids.
In its statement, the PCI said that Newsclick has “closely covered the ongoing farmers protest, and specialises in reports on government policies on the poorer sections of society”.
Condemning the raids on the premises of the web-based news and current affairs portal Newsclick, the PCI said that “Publicising the charge of alleged money laundering against a small, public-spirited, news company is no way to defend democratic values and institutions, which the government proclaims to be doing, especially on the world stage”. Alleging that the past year has seen numerous FIRs filed against journalists, the PCI further added, “It has been seen to be the case that vile charges against journalists and against boutique journalist groups doing ground-level work to expose communal agendas and poor people’s issues do not make headway in terms of investigations”.
The PCI statement noted that cases have been rampantly filed, and most of them have not withstood judicial scrutiny. The statement called on the government to end “raid raj and false allegations against the media and take visible steps to ensure democratic freedoms such as free speech and right to liberty”.
The Editors Guild of India said, "In the recent past, the website has been at the frontline of reporting on the farmers agitation, the anti-CAA protests, and has been critical of various government policies and of a few powerful corporate houses. EGI is concerned that raids by government agencies are not used as coercive measures to suppress free and independent journalism. The Guild demands that care be taken to not undermine the news operations of Newsclick and that its journalists and stakeholders are not harassed under the garb of such measures."
On Tuesday, even as the raids were underway, Newsclick issued a brief statement saying, “Truth shall prevail. We have full faith in the legal system”.