On the Biggest Crackdown on the Indian Press by the Indian State
This Is the Biggest Crackdown on the Indian Press by the Indian State
Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
October 3, 2023 will go down in history for the biggest crackdown on Indian journalism by the Indian state. Homes of 46 journalists, including nine women, who are said to be directly and indirectly associated with the news portal NewsClick were raided by the Delhi police’s special cell that usually probes cases of terrorism in the wee hours of Tuesday.
For many of us scribes, the day unfolded like a typical thriller. Our messenger apps, WhatsApp or Signal, didn’t stop buzzing. First, we heard that raids were ongoing in the homes of over 100 journalists. We didn’t know why as the Delhi Police officials refused to divulge any details. Then, one by one, names of those whose houses were being searched started coming in.
“Urmilesh’s house!” I wondered. Urmilesh is one of the most respected senior journalists of the national capital who has been at the forefront of highlighting the failures of state establishments over the last 40 years. Over the last 10 years, he had been particularly critical of the alleged authoritarian policies and measures of the Narendra Modi government.
“Paranjoy, too,” one of my colleagues informed, even as most of us were slowly waking up to the scale of the raids. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, in the last 40 years, has consistently exposed crony practices of Indian governments. Most recently, he worked on a series of stories about the Adani group’s alleged financial frauds.
By 9 am, it was clear that the police were searching the homes of journalists who were related in some fashion with Newsclick, a portal which has been accused of taking funds from a pro-China lobbyist in the US, Neville Roy Singham. But then, we soon learnt that police had registered a fresh case against under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a stringent law that should be sparingly used against terrorists.
Among the prominent journalists who came under the scanner were Bhasha Singh, a lifelong anti-caste activist who has been exposing the prevalence of manual scavenging practices in India, Subodh Verma, a former Times of India editor whose work on data analysis is peerless, NewsClick’s founding editor Prabir Purkayastha, a scholar, scientist and columnist, and critical television anchors like Abhisar Sharma and Urmilesh.
Most men whose homes were searched were taken away to the Lodhi Colony’s special cell police station where they were questioned for over 10 hours. As some of us descended to the Lodhi colony police station, we were told that none could enter the premises. “Even lawyers are not being allowed,” a lower level police official told reporters.
We waited for the detained journalists to be released and give their statements, unsure of whether they have been formally arrested or detained only for questioning. As daylight faded, many of those began to come out but darkness still prevailed over the charges under which they were detained. By late evening, the police gave a statement that Prabir Purkayastha, founding editor of NewsClick, and the organisation’s HR head Amit Chakravarty, had been arrested under UAPA sections.
Almost all of them said upon their release that the police kept asking them whether they covered stories on the anti-Muslim Delhi riots, the year-long farmers agitation, the anti-CAA protests, and even the COVID-19 crisis. They were asked why they covered these stories that portrayed India in a poor light.
Are we to assume that the journalists should now skip the most important stories of the time because they may embarrass the government of the day? Over 50 journalists working in India’s hinterland have been booked earlier under different charges for covering the conditions in which the poor had to live in during the COVID-19 lockdown. Many Kashmiri journalists have also been targeted by the security agencies, forcing their news platforms to shut down. But October 3, 2023 will be etched in our memory as the day when simultaneous raids were conducted on nearly 50 journalists, many of whom are prominent figures.
We still don’t know the specific charges slapped against the news portal, but some television channels, known for pro-government coverage, claimed that the portal had routed some of the Chinese funds to human rights activists Gautam Navlakha and Teesta Setalvad, who are already under the government’s scanner. The police claimed that Purakayastha and Chakravarty have been accused of taking Rs 38 crore from Chinese entities, a portion of which was routed towards the accounts of Gautam Navlakha and Teesta Setalvad, both prominent human rights activists and vocal critics of the Modi government who already face serious criminal charges. Navlakha is under house arrest, while Setalvad secured bail after being imprisoned for days in a case of financial fraud.
Yet, none of the drastic actions taken by the police made much sense. Homes of junior staffers, freelancers who may have contributed an article or two to NewsClick, consultants, even graphic designers and cartoonists, political activists, a stand-up comedian and academics who have appeared in the website’s programmes, were also under the scanner. Their homes were almost invaded. Their phones, laptops, hard disks, and even books were seized. A majority of them didn’t get any mandatory seizure memo and hash value of gadgets being taken away by the police. Many who were raided also complained that the police didn’t have a search warrant.
A case of financial fraud against NewsClick was already being pursued. Last week, the Delhi high court ruled that no coercive action could be taken against Purkayastha or NewsClick until the next hearing, scheduled next week. However, a fresh case under the draconian provisions of UAPA case has now allowed the police to not only conduct fresh raids on NewsClick journalists but also seal the organisation’s office.
Most scribes believe that these unprecedented raids were conducted to create a chilling effect on journalists, to silence them ahead of the 2024 general elections. The searches provoked a spontaneous protest meeting at the Press Club of India. Many journalist groups have also planned a protest march in the heart of Delhi today. Many will also write appeals to the President of India and other authorities.
India is placed at an abysmal 161 among the 180 countries surveyed in the Press Freedom Index and has fallen 50 points over the last 10 years. The criminalisation of dissent has become the new normal in present day India, as multiple instances have revealed in the last decade. The crackdown on journalists will only set a new benchmark in India’s democratic backsliding.
(Courtesy: The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas.)
Journalist Bodies Flay Ongoing Harassment of Newsclick Staff
Newsclick Report
[Journalists organisations have expressed outrage at portal Newsclick’s continued harassment by government agencies. On Wednesday, a fifth probe agency, the CBI, again searched the premises of the portal’s office and its Editor-in Chief Prabir Purkayastha’s residence.
A fresh FIR was filed by CBI on October 11, after which another search was carried out, close on the heels of massive raids and seizure of electronic devices of close to 80 persons, including 50 scribes, on October 3, under the draconian anti-terror law, UAPA or Unlawful activities Prevention Act. The portal’s Editor-in Chief Prabir Purkayastha and Human Resources head Amit Chakravarty were arrested and devices of several veteran contributors and freelancers were seized, ending their work with a jolt.
On Wednesday, six media organisations – Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Association, Digipub, Delhi Union of Journalists and Working News Cameramen’s Association, issued an appeal for spare laptops and phones for the affected journalists so that their livelihoods are not hit.
‘All procedure was flouted as seizure memos were not issued for every equipment seized. Employees have had to purchase new phones and organize laptops in order to continue functioning. As of now, their right to work and livelihood stands affected indefinitely. Many Newsclick employees are single earners with elderly family members to support.”
Recall that Newsclick has, since 2012, already been probed by the ED, EoW, IT department, Delhi Police Special Cell, the last raid just a week ago. The portal said it had provided all documents devices to all the probe agencies, “yet the Government that has not been able to substantiate any charges against Newsclick despite being in possession of all its information, documentation and communications, needed a motivated and bogus article published in the New York Times to invoke the draconian UAPA and attempt to shut down and stifle independent and fearless voices that portray the story of the real India – of peasants, of labourers, of farmers, and other oft-ignored sections of society.”
The full statement is published below.]
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Press Release, October 11, 2023
Journalist Bodies Condemn the Continued Harassment of Newsclick Employees
We the undersigned journalist organizations and associations express our deep outrage at the sustained and relentless harassment of the employees of Newsclick. The office of Newsclick and the home of the founder-editor were raided by the CBI today.
During the raids on October 3 at the homes of Newsclick employees, laptops and phones were seized indiscriminately, including those of elderly and sickly family members of the employees. All procedure was flouted as seizure memos were not issued for every equipment seized. Employees have had to purchase new phones and organize laptops in order to continue functioning. As of now, their right to work and livelihood stands affected indefinitely. Many Newsclick employees are single earners with elderly family members to support.
As there is no assurance of the return of their equipment, we appeal to members of our fraternity and the public at large to help out in whichever form possible, e.g, spare laptops or phones in order that they are able to continue to work and sustain themselves.
Sd/-
Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Association, Digipub, Delhi Union of Journalists and Working News Camermen’s Association
(Statement courtesy: Newsclick.)
230+ Journalists, Artists, Academics Slam NewsClick Raids
Newsclick report
[Just days after Indian authorities raided the homes of over 100 journalists affiliated with Indian news outlet Newsclick, international outlet Peoples Dispatch, and Tricontinental Research Services, over 230 journalists, political leaders, artists, academics, and progressive activists signed an open letter repudiating the repression. The individuals also demanded the immediate release of Newsclick editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and administrator Amit Chakraborty who were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and remain in police custody.
The letter was signed by political leaders S’bu Zikode, Mqapheli, and Thapelo Mohapi of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the shack dwellers movement of South Africa, Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard, Secretary General of the South African Communist Party Solly Mapaila, Brian Becker, Executive Director of the ANSWER Coalition, German MP Sevim Dagdelen, and Jodie Evans of the anti-war group CODEPINK.
Renowned journalists and authors also signed such as Bhaskar Sunkara, founder of ‘Jacobin Magazine’ and President of ‘The Nation’, Abby Martin and Mike Prysner of ‘The Empire Files’, Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., Managing Editor of ‘The Insight Newspaper’ and founder of ‘Pan African Television’ of Ghana, Gerald Horne, historian and journalist with ‘Pacifica Radio’ and KPFK-Los Angeles, ‘The Morning Star’ editors Ben Chacko and Roger McKenzie, comedian and journalist Lee Camp of ‘Dangerous Minds’, and Rania Khalek and Eugene Puryear of ‘BreakThrough News’.
Gabriel Shipton, the brother of imprisoned publisher and co-founder of ‘Wikileaks’ Julian Assange, also signed the letter rejecting attacks on press freedom in India.
Signatories hail from over 30 countries including Argentina, Australia, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, US, and Venezuela.
The letter comes amid an outpouring of support and solidarity for Newsclick and those harassed and detained on October 3. Dozens of rallies and mobilizations have taken place in cities across India organized by press associations and human rights organizations, and student and youth groups.
Read the full statement, along with the list of signatories, below.]
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We, the undersigned journalists, progressive news publications, academics, artists, and political leaders, from around the world, join together to condemn the horrific repression faced by our colleagues at Newsclick and Peoples Dispatch in India on October 3, 2023. The mass raids and detentions unleashed against journalists, commentators, cartoonists, and comedians associated with the outlet, as well as the arrest of its editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and administrator Amit Chakraborty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act constitute a worrying attack on the democratic principles of press freedom and freedom of expression.
NewsClick is exactly the kind of media outlet which strengthens a democracy, shining a light and giving a voice to those marginalized and silenced sectors of society which clamour for dignity and change.
We stand with our colleagues at Newsclick and Peoples Dispatch and demand the immediate release of those arrested.
Signed:
Andrea Ross, Frente Patria Grande, Argentina; Erika Gimenez, ARG Medios, Argentina; and hundreds of journalists and intellectuals from around the world.
(Courtesy: Newsclick and The Wire. Full list of signatories available on both websites.)
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Editorial addition:
In another statement, also published on The Wire, renowned writers and activists including International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree, Ramon Magsaysay Award winners P. Sainath and Aruna Roy, writers K.R. Meera, Perumal Murugan, Ramachandra Guha and V. Geetha, and singer T.M. Krishna have issued a statement condemning the Delhi Police’s UAPA case and action against the editor, staff members and contributors of Newsclick.
NewsClick: Lessons from the Kashmir Template
Anuradha Bhasin
In targeting NewsClick and cracking down on journalists and contributors, directly or indirectly connected to the organisation, the Indian government has heavily borrowed from its playbook in Kashmir where journalism has already been reduced to its dying embers.
The resemblance is uncanny. The early morning knocks, the sudden swooping down on unsuspecting individuals, illegitimate confiscation of electronic devices, forced detentions, long gruelling hours of interrogation, arrests, weaponising work done by journalists years ago against them, framing of atrocious, ambiguous and untenable charges, the denial of FIR copies to the accused and arrest of two journalists including NewsClick’s founding editor, Prabir Purkayastha, under several criminal offences including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) – everything seems like an extension of Kashmir.
Last week’s attacks are not in isolation. They are a part of coordinated targeting of journalists across India that has been happening for a while. But the egregious scale of the operation, which continues and whose exact magnitude we are still not aware of, shows that the government is trying to put into top gear its systemic mechanism of muzzling the press, human rights defenders and other dissenters.
Press freedom in India has been under severe strain under the Narendra Modi regime with journalists being criminalised and surveilled, and news outlets being crushed into silence or being taken over by government friendly powerful business houses, besides the co-option of news outlets to turn them into vehicles of government propaganda, fake news, disinformation, hate speech and vilification campaign of dissenters. This year, India slipped to the 161st rank among 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. According to Free Speech Collective, 16 Indian journalists have been charged under UAPA, and seven are currently behind the bars. Reporters San Frontier, last year, declared India as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.
The present phase is both a continuation of what free press across India has faced in the last few years and an indication of its alarming acceleration. Though horrifying, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The Modi government, wallowing in its arrogance of brute power, and in its sheer desperation in the run up to next year’s elections, is out to sledgehammer every murmur of protest and criticism. It had prepared a successful test case in Kashmir, which is already being extended and replicated in small doses on a pan-Indian level.
Press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir was always differently threatened than rest of India, owing to Kashmir’s troubled history, New Delhi’s insecurity and a violent conflict. An already burnt out, exhausted and wearied press fell like a pack of cards when the BJP began its final assault on the media in the region post 2019. The government’s actions were driven by BJP’s pathological contempt for Kashmir’s Muslimness, but they were facilitated because journalists and intelligentsia who care about media’s independence and democracy in rest of the country failed to stand up.
In 2021, in the face of exacerbation of the crackdown on the media in Kashmir after a quick succession of arrests, criminal cases slapped on journalists and the forcible closure of the Kashmir Press Club, the only resistance came in the form of a few statements from different press bodies or comment articles by a few journalists. The moment required a countrywide sustained campaign. For whatever reason, it did not happen. I had warned several journalist friends in Delhi that if they didn’t speak vociferously against the horrifying clampdown in Kashmir, the Kashmir template would be extended. Many were already apprehensive of that but disagreed that the scale could be just as brazen as Kashmir. They were wrong.
In March 2023, in the wake of the new digital rules, banning of the BBC documentary and raids on BBC offices, I wrote an article warning about how the Kashmir experiment was being extended. I may have been wrong too.
The NewsClick operation surpasses some of the brazen and high-handed methods adopted in Kashmir. The charges in the FIR are not only vague. They are also aimed at casting a wider net with an intent to rope in many other journalists, activists, academics, and lawyers – anybody who is seen as a dissenter by a paranoid state. Between the fine lines of the FIR is the intent to establish guilt by association and guilt by fabricated association. This is something Kashmir is familiar with. But the NewsClick canvas is much bigger. And it’s only just begun.
It is now crystal clear that as the ruling BJP becomes more and more desperate ahead of the elections, the state’s attempts to crush the media on a pan-Indian scale are likely to be more audacious and accelerated than Kashmir which was already battered by years of repression and militarisation. But Kashmir’s trajectory of declining press freedom in a systemically created ecosystem of perpetuating fear, sense of impotence and powerlessness through repetitive and coordinated assaults offers useful lessons.
Among other things, it shows us that those who stood up were definitely crushed. But many of those who surrendered, partly or fully, were not spared either.
Even as journalists in Kashmir now rarely report, or cautiously evade more critical subjects, the crackdown on them still continues in an endless cycle. We don’t get to hear about it because Kashmir has moved far out of the news and information orbit.
To be fair, the particularities of Kashmir’s politics and history do not apply to mainland India. But there is enough similarity to help us connect the dots. Whether the Indian government can bulldoze free press on a pan-Indian scale as ably and as easily as it has done in Kashmir will depend not only on the accelerated and expansive clampdown but also on the quality and quantum of resistance to such actions.
This resistance must come from not just journalists but from all those who firmly believe that free press is crucial to democracy and the democratic rights of all citizens.
Therefore, speak we must. If it’s not now, it’s never.
(Anuradha Bashin is Executive Editor of Kashmir Times, Senior JSK Journalism Fellow and author of A Dismantled State: Untold Story of Kashmir After 370. Courtesy: The Wire.)
NewsClick Case: If Modi Govt is Really Serious About ‘Terror Financing’, Why Hasn’t It Rung the US, China and FATF?
Siddharth Varadarajan
The cornerstone of the Delhi Police’s terrorism case against NewsClick and its founder Prabir Purkayastha is that he is the recipient of funds from an American businessman, Neville Roy Singham, who used US-based entities to transfer millions of dollars to India to fuel unrest aimed at disrupting “supplies and services essential to the life of community in India”. Why? To “abet damage and destruction of property”, all with a view to creating disaffection among various sections of society and “actively sympathising [with a] banned terrorist organisation so that unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty of the country can be threatened.”
The first information report (FIR) makes it clear that Singham acted at the behest of China, since he is “an active member of the propaganda wing of the Communist Party of China”, and that two Chinese telecom companies, Xiaomi and Vivo, helped execute this conspiracy by setting up “thousands of shell companies” and “infusing foreign funds in India”.
So far, the police have arrested Purkayastha and another NewsClick employee under India’s stringent anti-terror law. Phones and computers have been seized from over 50 other individuals, most of them journalists. Without going into the merits of the police case against NewsClick, the gravity of the charges themselves allows us to raise several questions about the Modi government’s seriousness in unearthing and prosecuting all the conspirators allegedly involved.
1. Has the Government of India requested the United States government to take action against and/or extradite its citizen, Neville Roy Singham, whose financing of NewsClick is being called a terrorist crime by the Delhi Police?
The FIR was filed on August 17, 2023, after the authorities say they had analysed hundreds of thousands of emails from Purkayastha’s accounts which were seized two years earlier when the Enforcement Directorate first raided the news portal’s offices.
Yet neither before or after the FIR was filed does the government appear to have made any efforts to even interrogate Singham, despite the fact that he is accused number 3 in the FIR and is supposedly the financial lynchpin in the case.
Could it be because the government knows that the fund transfers from Singham’s entities are exactly what both the remitter and recipient have said they are: a bona fide investment, made using money generated from the sale of Singham’s company? And that if India were to request the US authorities to take action they would be rebuffed?
2. Has the Government of India notified the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) secretariat in Paris that Neville Roy Singham and his companies are involved in terror financing so that all countries around the world can take action against him? Does it intend to request Interpol to issue a red-corner notice against the businessman?
For the past few years, the Indian government has set much store by the FATF process to bring Pakistan to heel on the question of terror financing. Yet here, despite claiming to possess evidence of a major terrorist plot with international financial ramifications, New Delhi does not appear to have moved the FATF at all. Could it be because the ED and other agencies familiar with the FATF process know their case might not withstand serious independent scrutiny?
3. Is it the Government of India’s official stand that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government it runs are sponsoring terrorism in India?
Delhi Police reports to the Union Home Ministry and if it is accusing an “active member” of the CPC with using illegal fund flows to push the official Chinese agenda in India, especially on the question of the status of Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, it stands to reason that the government believes China is aiding and abetting terrorism and related unlawful activities inside India. If this is so, will New Delhi now suspend all dialogue with Beijing, since the government’s official stand is that talks and terrorism cannot go hand in hand? Does the Modi government plan to ask China to reduce the number of diplomats it has stationed in India because the Chinese side – according to the police charge – is clearly interfering in India’s internal affairs, just as India has accused Canadian diplomats of interference?
4. While NewsClick is accused of indirectly receiving money from China, are the Enforcement Directorate, the NIA and the Special Cell of the Delhi Police going to now open UAPA and money laundering investigations into every Indian company that has received direct or indirect Chinese investment over the past 10 years?
Singham’s fund transfers to NewsClick came from the US via regular banking channels but the police and ED say the funds are actually from China and thus pose a threat to India’s unity and integrity. Singham’s lawyers dispute the claim that the money invested in NewsClick is ‘Chinese’, but there are hundreds of companies in India that have actually received money directly from China-based entities in the form of FDI, FII and commercial orders. Does the Indian government intend to probe all those companies and seize the electronic devices of every CEO and promoter involved so that their emails and other messages can be scrutinised for evidence of anti-national activity?
5. Neville Roy Singham is now said to be a resident of Shanghai, according to the FIR. Has the Government of India written to the Chinese government demanding action against him – in the same way that it has asked Canada to act against anti-India terrorist elements on its soil?
Beijing may not cooperate but has the request even been made? And is the government ready to take escalatory steps against China in the event that Singham is not extradited?
6. Will the Modi government now pull the plug on Xiaomi and Vivo and expel them from India?
Xiaomi and Vivo have a major presence in India – as investors in other firms, as manufacturers and vendors of mobile phones. The ED has been investigating them for three years now and hundreds of crores of rupees of lie frozen in their Indian bank accounts but they still have major plans to ramp up production in India. What is more, they have been welcomed and encouraged by top Union government ministers. With the authorities now saying they have evidence of both firms illegally funnelling money into India as part of Singham’s conspiracy to destabilise the country, is it wise to allow them to expand their economic footprint in India?
What answers the Modi government has to these questions will tell us a lot about the real nature of the terrorist conspiracy that lies at the centre of the police action against NewsClick.
(Siddharth Varadarajan is journalist, political analyst and academic. He is a founding editor of The Wire. Courtesy: The Wire.)
NewsClick Case: ‘Never Received Funds From a Foreign Govt’, Says Neville Roy Singham’s Company
The Wire Staff
[Worldwide Media Holdings (WMH), the US-based for-profit group whose investment in NewsClick is the basis of the Delhi police’s terror case against the news portal, said in a statement that it “has never received any funding, nor taken direction from any foreign individual, organisation, political party, or government”.
Read the full statement below.]
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My name is Jason Pfetcher. I am a lawyer based in the United States. I would like to set the record straight regarding Worldwide Media Holdings LLC (“WMH”) and an investment made by WMH to PPK Newsclick Studio Private Limited (“Newsclick”) in India.
I have been an attorney in the United States for over 25 years. For many years, I worked at ThoughWorks, Inc., an IT consultancy that has a worldwide footprint. I left ThoughtWorks in 2017 when the company was sold to a British private equity fund, Apax Partners (founded in 1969). I joined ThoughtWorks’ founder, Neville Roy Singham (“Roy”), to assist him in his efforts to give away most of the proceeds he received from the sale.
We created a private foundation in the United States called the People’s Support Foundation, Limited (“PSF”), and I have been a board member since its inception. All funds donated to PSF came from the sale of ThoughtWorks. PSF has never received funds from a foreign government. PSF wholly owns and operates WMH, of which I am the manager. WMH is a for-profit investment vehicle which has made various investments in progressive media projects around the world that provide people-centered news coverage. While these entities are consistent with PSF’s mission, PSF seeks a return on the investments we make in them.
Toward the end of 2017, WMH identified Newsclick as an organization that was consistent with WMH’s purposes and commenced due diligence on a potential investment in Newsclick. As part of this process, I visited Delhi and hired local counsel, met with Newsclick’s editor and other Newsclick staff, toured its facilities, and negotiated with Newsclick’s legal counsel. Following the completion of due diligence, the PSF board determined that it was advisable that WMH invest in Newsclick. That investment was finalized in March 2018. While I have attended various shareholder meetings of Newsclick on behalf of WMH, none of the principals of PSF or WMH, including myself, have ever influenced, guided, or directed the journalistic work of Newsclick.
The Newsclick investment opportunity came to WMH, in part, from our relationship with Prabir Purkayastha. I met Prabir while working at ThoughtWorks; we were fellow employees there for many years. Prabir was, and remains, highly regarded as a journalist, author, technologist, scientist, researcher, and business person.
In 2021, Newsclick’s offices were raided by India’s Enforcement Directorate, which accused the organization of money laundering. The Economic Offences Wing, Delhi Police subsequently initiated its own investigation, as did the Revenue Service of India. Over many months, dozens of Newsclick’s journalists, staff, and other associates, including Prabir and Amit Chakraborty, were interrogated at length, and some of them multiple times.
When asked, WMH has provided the Indian authorities confirmation regarding the provenance of the funds invested in Newsclick by WMH. WMH has also provided ample evidence that it is and has always been in good standing with the state of Delaware where it is incorporated, despite false information being circulated that WMH was a defunct entity when it invested in Newsclick. Prabir, along with Amit, have now been arrested and jailed by the Indian government, and Newsclick’s offices have been sealed. False allegations about the provenance of the funds invested in Newsclick continue to circulate, despite all the facts WMH has given the Indian authorities. These dire circumstances compel me to set the record straight.
It appears that much of the basis for this action by the Indian government stems from a slanderous article that was published by The New York Times on August 5, 2023. Before that article was published, I responded to the reporters’ questions on behalf of PSF as follows: “PSF has never received any funding, nor taken direction from any foreign individual, organization, political party, or government (or from any of their members or representatives).” The New York Times failed to include PSF’s categorical denial of foreign funding, and instead left readers to believe that the source of PSF’s funding (or Roy’s for that matter) might have come from China, rather than from the sale of ThoughtWorks. Their salacious headlines and misleading ‘reporting’ have now directly contributed to the arrest of innocent journalists.
I have been traveling to India and doing business there for nearly 20 years. I recommended this particular investment without hesitation, eager to see India’s already vibrant media landscape be made even more so by the growth of a media project eager to give voice to the voiceless. I have always been highly conscientious about respecting local laws. Therefore, reputable lawyers and law firms were consulted to ensure that this investment strictly followed all aspects of Indian law, specifically including those limiting foreign ownership in media companies. Given the repression that is now taking place, it begs the question as to whether India is a safe place for foreign investors who carefully follow Indian law.
(Statement courtesy: The Wire.)
