Indian Police Raid Local News Outlet
Security officers carry items confiscated from the raid on NewsClick. Photo: Dinesh Joshi
On Oct. 3, at around 6:30 AM, Indian police staged several raids on the office and private homes of employees at NewsClick – an English-language independent news outlet focusing on “progressive movements.” Phones and laptops were seized from 50 locations associated with the website, and 46 people were detained by the police for questioning. On October 25, the Delhi High Court sentenced NewsClick’s founder, Prabir Purkayastha, and human resources head, Amit Chakravarty, to police custody until November 2. Opposition parties questioned the legality of the arrests, to which India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur claimed he did not need to justify the raids, and that search agencies were free to investigate wrongdoings under a broad anti-terrorist law.
The arrests followed an investigative report published on August 5 by the New York Times (NYT), which accused Neville Roy Singham, an American millionaire, of funding the NewsClick. The report alleged that Singham worked with the Chinese government to spread pro-China propaganda, and his funding “sprinkled its [NewsClick’s] coverage with Chinese government talking points.”
On August 17, the Indian government filed a First Investigation Report (FIR) against NewsClick, which echoed the NYT accusations. A FIR is a report that allows Indian police to investigate an alleged crime, and potentially issue a warrant to arrest the accused. The FIR also alleges NewsClick attempted to sabotage the 2019 election polls by attempting to show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh (disputed territories between India and China) as part of China. The report also accused the news outlet of spreading disinformation about the Indian government’s efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accused of suppressing media outlets critical of him. Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office
NewsClick vehemently denies all allegations, and stated it has faith the Indian judicial system will vindicate its position. Critics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government interpret the arrests as the latest in a growing campaign by the government to suppress free speech. Students and journalists alike organized protests all throughout Delhi shortly after the arrests. Indian civil society organizations, such as the Press Club of India and the Editor’s Guild of India, similarly issued statements of support for NewsClick. The arrest attracted international attention as well, with Amnesty International’s India head stating that “the NewsClick raids and the arrest of Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty are the latest attempts by the Indian government to decimate independent and critical media.”
These arrests are not the first time critics accused Modi’s government of suppressing free speech. The Indian police previously raided the Indian offices of the BBC on charges of tax evasion shortly after the BBC published a documentary critical of Modi in early 2023. In early 2022, the government detained Sajad Ahmad Dar, an Indian journalist covering Kashmir, for spreading conspiracy through a tweet.
The alleged suppression of free speech earned Modi’s government criticism from both domestic and international observers. The annual World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, placed India 161st of the 180 countries ranked. The United States has also raised concerns of significant human rights violations in India in a report released earlier this year.