Why was NewsClick raided?

Brut India

When NewsClick’s office was raided, its journalists were questioned about whether they had covered the farmers’ protests, anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and the Covid pandemic.

Transcript

00:00A media publisher that routinely covered stories critical of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government

00:05like criticism of government pawns, alleged violations of green clearances

00:10and the Bihar caste census was raided by the Delhi police on 3rd October.

00:15Modi ji is great and Modi ji is the incarnation of God.

00:21The Enforcement Directorate was investigating Newsclick for receiving foreign funding.

00:26A case was registered in August, just days after the New York Times published an investigation

00:32which said that Newsclick was financed by an American millionaire working with the Chinese government.

00:38Founder and editor Prabir Purkayas and HR head Amit Chakravarti have been arrested.

00:43Several journalists also associated with Newsclick were detained for questioning.

00:48These reporters had worked on stories about alleged violations by the Adani group.

00:52They had spoken about how PM Narendra Modi was made the centre of all government achievements and schemes

00:58and discussed the PM's ignorance of history on their shows.

01:02500 cops raided more than a hundred locations across cities like Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Mumbai.

01:10Newsclick and its journalists were being charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA

01:16which was usually reserved for terrorists.

01:19Between 2014 and 2020, more than 10,000 people had been arrested under UAPA

01:25but just over 250 of them had been convicted.

01:28In a written reply in Lok Sabha, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said

01:33that the government didn't keep separate data for journalists who were charged under this act.

01:38The National Crime Records Bureau also didn't mention the number of people arrested under UAPA before 2014.

01:45The man linked to Newsclick was American millionaire Neville Roy Singham.

01:50The New York Times reported that Singham used non-profit groups to finance the Chinese government's propaganda across the world.

01:57Corporate filings uncovered by the publication showed that Singham's companies financed Newsclick

02:04and they in turn allegedly published Chinese government propaganda.

02:08When this New York Times report was published in August 2023, it was also discussed in Lok Sabha.

02:15He is hating the organization.

02:18Purkash is its owner.

02:19How did he get all the money?

02:22How was it given to Naxalites?

02:24How was it given to Maoists?

02:26How was it given to Sharma, Rohini Singh or people like Swati Chaturvedi?

02:32Chinese are giving money just to create an environment against India.

02:3710 days later, a case was registered against them.

02:40The police questioned nearly 50 people associated with Newsclick,

02:44raided the company's office and sealed it.

02:46Police seized the suspects' computers, laptops, mobile phones and documents.

02:56The journalists were allegedly asked 25 questions, which included their foreign travels

03:01and whether or not they reported on events like the COVID pandemic,

03:06the farmers' protests and the protests against the CIA in Shaheen Bagh.

03:10I spoke to my wife's brother in America.

03:14He said yes.

03:15I asked him if he used signals.

03:17He said yes.

03:19I asked him if he covered the Delhi riots.

03:20He said no.

03:22I asked him if he covered the farmers' protests.

03:23He said yes.

03:24How will you justify this?

03:28Look, I don't need to justify it.

03:31If someone has done something wrong, the police will take the blame.

03:37If someone has done something wrong, the police will take the blame.

03:48The police will take the blame.

03:53Opposition parties were quick to criticise this police action.

03:57The India Alliance condemned the raids.

04:00Congress leader Pawan Khera called them a distraction from the Bihar caste census.

04:04Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yatav said they were a sign of a losing BJP.

04:09And the Aam Aadmi Party said that the government lacked courage to engage with China directly

04:14and hence were arresting journalists.

04:21But this wasn't the first time that Newsclick was under the law enforcement scanner.

04:25In 2021, they were being investigated by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing.

04:31Their officers were being searched by the Income Tax Department

04:34and the ED was looking into them for money laundering.

04:37The Delhi High Court had stepped in at that time

04:39and barred the ED from taking coercive action against them.

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