The Editors Guild of India (EGI) expressed concern over income tax “surveys” being conducted at the offices of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) India in New Delhi and Mumbai. The EGI said that government agencies being used to harass news organisations was distressing and this trend is undermining constitutional democracy.
“EGI is deeply concerned about the IT “surveys” being carried out at the offices of BBC India. Is distressed by the continuing trend of government agencies being used to intimidate and harass news organisations that are critical of ruling establishment,” the EGI in a tweet said.
Notably, the IT raids are being carried out at BBC India offices weeks after the media outlet aired a documentary on the 2022 Gujarat riots criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was the then Gujarat Chief Minister during that period.
The EGI in its press release criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre for the raids at BBC offices. It said, “This is a trend that undermines constitutional democracy. The Guild demands that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations.”
Last month, the BBC aired a two-part documentary. It critised PM Modi’s tenure as Gujarat’s Chief Minister during the Gujarat riots of 2002. After the release of the first part of te documentary the Centre directed social media platforms Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary in India. The Ministry of External Affairs has trashed the documentary as a “propaganda piece” that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset. However, the opposition attacked the Modi government for banning the documentary in India.
