New Delhi: The Press Club of India (PCI) has strongly condemned the income tax "surveys" at the office of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday.
In a statement, PCI said, "The 'surveys' are part of a series of attacks on the media by government agencies in recent times, especially against those sections of the media that the government perceives is hostile to it and critical of the ruling establishment.
"It is deeply unfortunate as this latest instance appears to be a clear cut case of vendetta, coming within weeks of a documentary aired by the BBC on the Gujarat riots."
The PCI said that the documentary, which appears to be the immediate provocation for the raids, has already been banned on YouTube and other social media platforms.
The Press Club of India said the raids are not only worrisome for damaging for India's imaage.
"We are deeply concerned and distressed that such an action on an international broadcasting network will damage the reputation and image of India as the largest democracy in the world", the statement read.
"We appeal to the government to restrain its agencies from misusing their powers in order to intimidate the media and put curbs on the freedom of the press," it said.
The Income Tax officials, who called the search operation a "survey", raided the BBC offices just weeks after the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) released a two-part documentary titled 'India: The Modi Question' on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Editors Guild of India, a non-profit group which promotes press freedom, also said it was "deeply concerned" about the searches.
"They are a continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment", it said.
Amnesty International India's Board accused authorities of "trying to harass and intimidate the BBC over its critical coverage of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party".
It said the "overbroad powers of the Income Tax Department are repeatedly being weaponised to silence dissent".
Meanwhile, responding to Income Tax Department's 'survey' at BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that no one is above the law of the country.
Addressing the media in Mumbai, Thakur said:
"The Income Tax Department conducts surveys from time to time where irregularities are found and when the survey work is completed, it issues a detailed press note."
Describing the country's agencies as completely autonomous, Thakur said that no one is above the law of the nation, and no one is above the judicial system.
Hitting back at those who questioned the intention of the government through this survey, Thakur claimed that the agencies are fully autonomous and one should "let them do their work".
Thakur also said that when this survey work is completed, the department will definitely inform the media about it in detail.
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