Crackdown on Newsclick is an Assault on Democracy

Abhay Kumar

Protest demonstrations are being held across the country by journalists and civil society members against the Delhi Police raids on the news portal, Newsclick.

The crackdown is being seen as a severe assault on freedom and expression and the country’s democracy.

While the police have charged the Newsclick journalists with UAPA (the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) case for allegedly receiving money and carrying forward China’s propaganda, it appears that the web portal has been targeted by the BJP Government as it has emerged as a strong alternative media platform.

By conducting the raids and arresting the journalists associated with Newsclick, the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government is desperately trying to curb anything critical of it and check the rising tide of its unpopularity ahead of the upcoming General Elections (2024).

The offices of Newsclick and the residence of its journalists and other staff present and past were raided on Tuesday (October 3) by the Special Cell of the Delhi police.

Apart from holding searches, the police interrogated the journalists. But what has angered the people most is the way the searches were conducted in 35 different locations in New Delhi and Mumbai without properly following the due course of law.

The houses of senior journalists of the Newsclick -- including Abhisar Sharma and Urmilesh -- also saw the police raid.

But what is more worrisome is the fact that the police have seized the electronic devices of the journalists, which included laptops, mobile phones and other things.

Civil Rights activists fear that the police might misuse them and use these electronic devices as evidence against the accused. 76-year-old Prabir Purkayastha, the founder editor of Newsclick, and Amit Chakravorty, an administrative officer and a physically challenged person, have been arrested under the UAPA.

The statement issued by the Newsclick team following the raid alleged that the police not only failed to follow due process but also used muscle power to stop journalists from working by trying to seal the office.

As the statement puts it, “Electronic devices were seized from the Newsclick premises and homes of employees, without any adherence to due process such as the provision of seizure memos, hash values of the seized data, or even copies of the data. Newsclick’s office has also been sealed in a blatant attempt at preventing us from continuing our reporting”.

It is not the first time the Modi Government has targeted Newsclick. Since 2021, Newsclick continue to suffer harassment at the hands of the police and several other agencies of the government.

For example, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department offices had already raided Newsclick’s office. Looking at the series of crackdowns on Newsclick, it appears that they are violent attempts to muzzle the voices of dissenting media.

Look at the two sets of rules applied by the police: while the police have alleged Newsclick of receiving illegal money and spreading it for Chinese propaganda in India, the same police have not produced before the court any substantive evidence to prove its giant claims.

The charge of receiving money from abroad is also not convincing. Let’s assume for a while that the whole motive of Newsclick is to receive money and carry forward the Chinese’s agendas, as alleged by the police, one hardly finds any content published or broadcast by Newsclick media, which is supported by strong evidence.

It seems to be ironic that the police have made huge allegations against the journalists working at alternative platforms, they have failed to identify any content on the Newsclick website which could be cited as serving Chinese propaganda.

We have seen a similar pattern under the Modi Government: the police and other investigative agencies have targeted the opposition leaders and the dissenting voices but once they join the ruling party, they are celebrated as “heroes”.

While the dissenting journalists are being punished, the Godi media journalists are given impunity to speak anything poisonous and hateful they wish to.

Since mainstream journalists are notorious for targeting the weak including Muslims and spitting venom against marginalized communities, no substantive action has been taken against these journalists spewing communal hatred.

While the Godi media journalists resort to spreading propaganda, half-truths and lies, all those dissenters, who write the issues from the people’s perspective, are being attacked and forced into silence.

A large number of journalists who have spoken truth to power have been assaulted and arrested. Can one forget Sidheeq Kappan from Kerala, the Malayalam language jo