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The Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP on Tuesday condemned the raids on the NewsClick office and staff residence by Delhi Police and claimed that the Delhi Police raided the residences of several journalists, activists, authors, and satirists and engaged in searches and seizures of books, journals, magazines, laptops, and mobile phones, allegedly without any warrant, and Delhi Police gave no clarity on the reasons behind this crackdown and widespread searches and seizures.
CPI MP Binoy Viswam said in a statement that the common thread between the persons who were raided is well-known for their critical approach towards the wrongdoings of the Modi government, instead of compliance as desired by the BJP. These journalists and activists have questioned the Modi regime on several critical issues, like the mishandling of the Manipur crisis, the Adani-Hindenburg revelations, the spread of fake news, the communalisation of society and media, Pegasus snooping issue, corruption in the Rafael Deal, etc, he said. It is publicly known that the BJP did not allow even the Parliament to discuss the Manipur crisis or the Adani revelation and used different tactics to avoid discussion on these critical issues, including by causing repeated disruptions, he said. "The raids conducted today should be seen in this context, and they are concerning for the future independence of the press and freedom of speech. Muzzling of criticism and curbing the free flow of information are detrimental for democracy," he added CPI Parliamentary Leader and National Secretary Binoy Viswam further said, Modi governments crackdown on the press has already brought India among the bottom 20 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. Several journalists are in jail under draconian charges for reporting the truth. BJPs contempt for a democratic society is visible to all. These raids are condemnable desperate attempts to hide gross misgovernance, corruption, and failures of the last 9 years, he said. (ANI)
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