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.
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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.