New Delhi: NewsClick Journalist and noted anchor, Abhisar Sharma, who was raided by Delhi Police Special Cell Tuesday October 03, 2023, said he will not back down and will continue to question those in power.
“After a day long interrogation by Delhi Special cell, I am back home. Each and every question posed will be answered. Nothing to fear (sic)”, he wrote on social media platform on X originally launched as Twitter.
“And I will keep questioning people in power and particularly those who are afraid of simple questions. Not backing down at any cost”, Abhisar Sharma wrote on X.
Delhi Police Special Cell had today raided more than 35 locations, according to some reports 100 places, in Delhi NCR, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Mumbai, belonging to people who are working for or are associated somehow with news portal NewsClick.
NewsClick is under the scanner of Enforcement Directorate (ED) since 2021 when its offices were raided after the U.S. based The New York Times in a report claimed that the news portal received funds from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham, allegedly for the dissemination of Chinese propaganda.
According to the reports, Delhi Police Special Cell raids today are based on the input shared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) “indicating unlawful activities by the suspects” and alleged violations in foreign funding.
Besides Abhilas Sharma, others who were raided included NewsClick Founder Prabir Purkayastha, Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakraborty and Sohail Hashmi.
The raids on NewsClick journalists and others by the Delhi Police Special Cell sleuths today sparked a huge outrage.
Condemning the Delhi Police raids on Journalists and Activists, the 28-party alliance of the opposition parties, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), in a statement advised the Narendra Modi government “to stop attacking the media to distract attention from its failures”.
The INDIA alliance called the raids against the NewsClick journalists selective and biased.
“The government’s coercive actions are invariably directed against only those media organisations and journalists that speak truth to power”, it said. “Ironically, the BJP government is paralysed when it comes to taking action against those journalists inciting hatred and divisiveness in the nation”, the alliance of 28 opposition parties said.
“The government’s coercive actions are invariably directed against only those media organisations and journalists that speak truth to power”, it said.
“Ironically, the BJP government is paralysed when it comes to taking action against those journalists inciting hatred and divisiveness in the nation”, the alliance of 28 opposition parties said.
The alliance also expressed solidarity with the media.
“We steadfastly stand with the media and for the constitutionally protected freedoms of speech and expression”, the INDIA alliance said.
Commenting on the Delhi Police raids, CPI MP Binoy Viswam in a statement said that the common thread between those who were raided is 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.
Earlier in the day, Press Club of India too had raised concerns over the raids on journalists by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
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