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Tag: Editors Guild of India

  • Editors Guild ‘deeply concerned’ about I-T survey at BBC offices

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday said it was “deeply concerned” about the Income Tax surveys at the offices of BBC India and termed it as a continuation of a “trend” of using government agencies to “intimidate and harass” media outlets critical of the ruling establishment.

    In a statement, the Guild also demanded that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations.

    The statement came after Income Tax authorities conducted a survey operation at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion.

    The action, it is learnt, is being carried out to investigate some international taxation and transfer pricing issues.

    The broadcaster said it was “fully cooperating” with the tax authorities.

    “The survey by the I-T department is in continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment,” the Guild said in a statement here.

    The Guild noted that the IT survey came soon after the release of two documentaries by the BBC on the 2002 violence in Gujarat and the current status of the minorities in India.

    The documentaries stirred political waters, with the government criticising the BBC for wrong and prejudiced reportage on the Gujarat violence and attempting to ban online access and viewing of the films in India, it said.

    It recalled that IT surveys were conducted in 2021 at the offices of NewsClick, Newslaundry, Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Samachar.

    “In each case, the raids and surveys were against the backdrop of critical coverage of the government establishment by the news organisations,” the Guild said.

    “This is a trend that undermines constitutional democracy,” it said.

    The Guild reiterated its earlier demand that governments ensure that such investigations are conducted within the prescribed rules and that they don’t degenerate into instruments of harassment to intimidate independent media.

    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday said it was “deeply concerned” about the Income Tax surveys at the offices of BBC India and termed it as a continuation of a “trend” of using government agencies to “intimidate and harass” media outlets critical of the ruling establishment.

    In a statement, the Guild also demanded that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations.

    The statement came after Income Tax authorities conducted a survey operation at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion.

    The action, it is learnt, is being carried out to investigate some international taxation and transfer pricing issues.

    The broadcaster said it was “fully cooperating” with the tax authorities.

    “The survey by the I-T department is in continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment,” the Guild said in a statement here.

    The Guild noted that the IT survey came soon after the release of two documentaries by the BBC on the 2002 violence in Gujarat and the current status of the minorities in India.

    The documentaries stirred political waters, with the government criticising the BBC for wrong and prejudiced reportage on the Gujarat violence and attempting to ban online access and viewing of the films in India, it said.

    It recalled that IT surveys were conducted in 2021 at the offices of NewsClick, Newslaundry, Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Samachar.

    “In each case, the raids and surveys were against the backdrop of critical coverage of the government establishment by the news organisations,” the Guild said.

    “This is a trend that undermines constitutional democracy,” it said.

    The Guild reiterated its earlier demand that governments ensure that such investigations are conducted within the prescribed rules and that they don’t degenerate into instruments of harassment to intimidate independent media.

  • Editors Guild, Press Club condemn scribe Muhammad Zubair’s arrest, Jamiat calls it ‘discriminatory action’

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India on Tuesday described the arrest of Alt News co-founder Muhammad Zubair on charges of hurting religious sentiments as “extremely disturbing” and demanded his immediate release.

    Both the media bodies pointed out that the action against Zubair came on a day when India joined G7 and four other countries to protect free speech, “online and offline”.

    “It is apparent that Alt News’ alert vigilance was resented by those who use disinformation as a tool to polarise society and rake nationalist sentiments,” the guild said in a statement here.

    Zubair was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday on charges of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings.

    “Zubair has been arrested under sections 153 and 295 of the Indian Penal Code.

    This is extremely disturbing because Zubair and his website Alt News have done some exemplary work over the past few years in identifying fake news and countering disinformation campaigns, in a very objective and factual manner,” the guild said.

    It demanded that the Delhi Police release Zubair immediately.

    “This is necessary to buttress the commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the G7 meet in Germany to ensure a resilient democracy by protecting online and offline content,” the guild said.

    The Press Club of India said: “The action by the Delhi Police in hastily arresting Muhammad Zubair showed the blatant violation of the country’s commitment on the global platform given by none other than the prime minister himself.”

    Earlier, a body of digital media organisations had condemned Zubair’s arrest and asked the Delhi Police to withdraw the case against him immediately.

    In a democracy, where every individual possesses the right to exercise the freedom of speech and expression, it is unjustifiable that such stringent laws are used as tools against journalists, who have been accorded the role of playing a watchdog against the misuse of the institutions of the State, a statement issued by the DIGIPUB said.

    “The use of such stringent laws as tools against journalists who are considered the fourth pillar of democracy must be stopped. We stand with Zubair,” it added.

    Prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday termed the arrest “discriminatory” and demanded that the government take “fair action” in the matter respecting the country’s reputation at the international level.

    Jamiat president Maulana Mahmood Madani also wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah saying “the discriminatory nature” of the functioning of law enforcement agencies is condemnable.

    “On one hand, people who openly deliver hate speeches and make genocide calls are roaming free, while on the other hand journalists who are tirelessly working in exposing such hate-mongers are being systematically harassed and intimidated,” Madani said.

    “There is no doubt that the people accused of hurting religious sentiments of other people’s faith, their holy saints and holy books with the intention to cause communal disturbance must be dealt with firmly as per the provision of the law.

    However, there must not be any discrimination in dealing with such people on the basis of their particular faith,” the Jamiat chief said.

    In the case against Zubair, Madani alleged “discrimination and religious persecution”.

    “We solemnly appeal to you as the guardian of the law enforcement to kindly make sure that absolute equality and impartiality is exercised by the law enforcement agencies in dealing with the hate mongers irrespective of their faith,” Madani said in his letter.

    “We demand that the government take fair action respecting the country’s reputation at the international level,” he said.

  • ‘Pause, take a critical look at what you have done’: EGI to news channels on Kanpur violence

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Noting that the irresponsible conduct of some news channels has made the national discourse coarse and the gap between communities unbridgeable, the Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Wednesday asked them to pause and take a critical look at what they have done just to increase viewership and profit during the Kanpur violence.

    It also called for stricter vigilance by broadcasters and journalist bodies, noting that the recent incident of violence in Kanpur that caused “unnecessary embarrassment” to the country could have been avoided if those news channels had been mindful of the nation’s constitutional commitment to secularism, as well as journalistic ethics and guidelines of the Press Council of India.

    Violence had erupted in parts of Kanpur after Friday prayers as members of two communities indulged in brick-batting and hurled bombs over attempts to shut shops in protest against remarks against Prophet Mohammad by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma during a TV debate.

    “The Editors Guild of India is disturbed by the irresponsible conduct of some national news channels for deliberately creating circumstances that target vulnerable communities by spewing hatred towards them and their beliefs,” the Editors’ body said in a statement.

    Expectedly, there was a riot in Kanpur accompanied by an “unprecedented trenchant reaction” from many countries that were offended by the remarks of the ruling party spokespersons, it said, adding that in their angry statements they wondered about India’s commitment to human rights and freedom of religion.

    “The incident that caused unnecessary embarrassment to the country could have been avoided if some of the TV outlets had been mindful of the nation’s constitutional commitment to secularism, as well as the journalistic ethics and guidelines that the Press Council of India has issued to handle a volatile communal situation,” the EGI said.

    Instead, some of these channels prompted by the desire to increase viewership and profit were seemingly inspired by the values of Radio Rwanda whose incendiary broadcast caused a genocide in the African nation, it added.

    “The EGI demands that these channels pause and take a critical look at what they have done by giving legitimacy to divisive and toxic voices that has made the national discourse coarse and the gap between communities unbridgeable,” the Editors’ body said.

    “The EGI also demands stricter vigilance by broadcaster and journalist bodies to prevent a recurrence of this from taking place,” it added.

    The media is in place to strengthen the Constitution and the law, and not break it through sheer irresponsibility and absence of accountability, the EGI said.

  • Editors Guild demands immediate release of journalist arrested by Uttarakhand police

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Thursday demanded “immediate” release of a journalist who was recently arrested by Uttarakhand Police for allegedly promoting enmity between castes.

    The editors’ body said police arrested Kishore Ram, working for news portal ‘Janjwar, from Pithoragadh on February 24 under section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly promoting enmity between castes.

    “The Editors Guild of India is deeply disturbed by the arrest of Kishore Ram, a journalist working for the news portal Janjwar, by the Uttarakhand Police,” it said in a statement.

    “Ram has been arrested under section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code, on charges of promoting enmity between castes. This is deeply concerning as Ram has been reporting on issues pertaining to marginalised classes and lower castes for a while,” it added.

    In the present instance, the Guild noted, that an FIR was filed against him for his reporting on two separate incidents–one pertaining to death of a Dalit youth on February 13 and the other about rape of two “underage Dalit women” on February 18.

    In both the cases, Ram had interviewed those who knew the victims, including the family members, and uploaded the videos on the website, the Guild said.

    “The police in its complaint have accused Ram of asking caste of the people from the family members and speaking about the killing of people belonging to SC (scheduled caste) by upper caste people,” the EGI noted.

    This is “extremely distressing” that mere reporting on what may very well be caste based crimes are being cited as grounds for arrest, it said.

    “The Editors Guild demands immediate release of Kishore Ram,” it said.

    The Guild also urged the state administration and the law enforcement agencies to not use penal laws as “tools of intimidation against journalists’ right to report on societal and caste based issues”.

  • Arrested women scribes to be handed over to Tripura cops on Monday; Opposition, media bodies protest

    By PTI

    AGARTALA/KARIMGANJ: Two women journalists, who came to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents in Tripura were detained by Assam police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to Assam-Tripura border on Sunday, police officials in both states confirmed.

    Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, were named in a FIR at Fatikroy Police Station of Tripura on Sunday based on a complaint filed by a supporter of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), alleging that they had maligned the image of Tripura government by their reporting, according to a statement issued by their employer.

    The duo are being kept at a government-run shelter home for women for the night and will be handed over to the Tripura police on Monday morning, an Assam police officer said.

    The two scribes were held by Assam Police on their way to Silchar airport later on Sunday, with Assam Police informing them that they were being held as “Tripura Police asked (Assam Police) to detain them (the duo)’.”

    In a tweet, Sakunia wrote, “We have been detained at the Nilambazar police station, Karimganj, Assam. We were informed by the officer-in-charge of Nilambazar PS that SP of Gomti District gave the orders for our detention.”

    A senior police official in Agartala said that they were detained on the basis of requests by Tripura police and a team of Tripura Police officials from Dharmanagar has gone to Nilambazaar to bring them.

    The official said, the journalists posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake were true by interrogating them”, he added.

    In a tweet on November 11, Sakunia had written, “#Tripuraviolence Darga Bazaar: On 19th October at around 2:30 am, some unidentified people burnt down the mosque in Darga Bazaar area. People in the neighborhood are very upset with the fact that now they don’t have any place nearby to go and pray.”

    The police official said, “The journalists had a travel plan to fly outside Tripura and police asked them to meet some police officials before leaving the state. The duo then changed their travel plan and started for Silchar in Assam without informing us. So Tripura police requested Assam police on the basis of which they detained the journalists.”

    A press release issued from the office of Tripura Police Director General VS Yadav claimed that the posts by Sakunia were not true and promoting a sense of hatred between communities.

    “In this social media post, she posted a video of her visit to the half burned prayer hall damaged by mischievous fire in the house of one Rahamat Ali of Hurijala, PS Kakraban on 11/11/2021 to claim that one holy Quran was burned in the incident occurred on the night of 19/10/2021 which refers to Kakraban PS Case No.74/2021 U/S 436 IPC.”

    “This is contrary to the findings so far revealed in course of investigation as presence of no such damaged books/documents was brought to the notice of investigating officer and fire service staff who extinguished the fire,” the police statement said.

    The statement added that a team of lawyers, who visited the state earlier, had made a similar claim with a “questionable photograph”.

    It added that people with “vested interests” were trying to flare up communal tension in the state.

    The Editors Guild of India (EGI) and Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) on Sunday condemned the detention of two women journalists.

    Police officials in both the states have confirmed that Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, who went to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents there, were detained by the Assam Police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to the border between the two states on Sunday.

    “Editors Guild condemns this action and demands their immediate release and restoration of their freedom to travel,” the EGI said in a statement.

    The IWPC also condemned the police action against the two journalists and demanded that they should be allowed to do their job without any fear.

    “We understand that the two women journalists, Ms Sakuni and Ms Jha, are to be taken back to Tripura for questioning,” the IWPC said, adding, “We demand that they be released immediately and be allowed to do their job.”

    The official said the journalists had posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake or true by interrogating them,” he added.

    The BJP is busy “killing” journalism but when has the truth stopped in the face of lies, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday  over the detentions.

    “The BJP system is busy killing journalism. But when has the truth stopped in the face of lies?” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. He used the hashtag ‘Tripura’ and ‘NoFear’.

  • Arrested women scribes to be handed over to Tripura cops on Monday; Editors Guild, IWPC condemn the detentions

    By PTI

    AGARTALA/KARIMGANJ: Two women journalists, who came to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents in Tripura were detained by Assam police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to Assam-Tripura border on Sunday, police officials in both states confirmed.

    Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, were named in a FIR at Fatikroy Police Station of Tripura on Sunday based on a complaint filed by a supporter of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), alleging that they had maligned the image of Tripura government by their reporting, according to a statement issued by their employer.

    The duo are being kept at a government-run shelter home for women for the night and will be handed over to the Tripura police on Monday morning, an Assam police officer said.

    The two scribes were held by Assam Police on their way to Silchar airport later on Sunday, with Assam Police informing them that they were being held as “Tripura Police asked (Assam Police) to detain them (the duo)’.”

    In a tweet, Sakunia wrote, “We have been detained at the Nilambazar police station, Karimganj, Assam. We were informed by the officer-in-charge of Nilambazar PS that SP of Gomti District gave the orders for our detention.”

    A senior police official in Agartala said that they were detained on the basis of requests by Tripura police and a team of Tripura Police officials from Dharmanagar has gone to Nilambazaar to bring them.

    The official said, the journalists posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake were true by interrogating them”, he added.

    In a tweet on November 11, Sakunia had written, “#Tripuraviolence Darga Bazaar: On 19th October at around 2:30 am, some unidentified people burnt down the mosque in Darga Bazaar area. People in the neighborhood are very upset with the fact that now they don’t have any place nearby to go and pray.”

    The police official said, “The journalists had a travel plan to fly outside Tripura and police asked them to meet some police officials before leaving the state. The duo then changed their travel plan and started for Silchar in Assam without informing us. So Tripura police requested Assam police on the basis of which they detained the journalists.”

    A press release issued from the office of Tripura Police Director General VS Yadav claimed that the posts by Sakunia were not true and promoting a sense of hatred between communities.

    “In this social media post, she posted a video of her visit to the half burned prayer hall damaged by mischievous fire in the house of one Rahamat Ali of Hurijala, PS Kakraban on 11/11/2021 to claim that one holy Quran was burned in the incident occurred on the night of 19/10/2021 which refers to Kakraban PS Case No.74/2021 U/S 436 IPC.”

    “This is contrary to the findings so far revealed in course of investigation as presence of no such damaged books/documents was brought to the notice of investigating officer and fire service staff who extinguished the fire,” the police statement said.

    The statement added that a team of lawyers, who visited the state earlier, had made a similar claim with a “questionable photograph”.

    It added that people with “vested interests” were trying to flare up communal tension in the state.

    The Editors Guild of India (EGI) and Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) on Sunday condemned the detention of two women journalists.

    Police officials in both the states have confirmed that Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, who went to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents there, were detained by the Assam Police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to the border between the two states on Sunday.

    “Editors Guild condemns this action and demands their immediate release and restoration of their freedom to travel,” the EGI said in a statement.

    The IWPC also condemned the police action against the two journalists and demanded that they should be allowed to do their job without any fear.

    “We understand that the two women journalists, Ms Sakuni and Ms Jha, are to be taken back to Tripura for questioning,” the IWPC said, adding, “We demand that they be released immediately and be allowed to do their job.”

    The official said the journalists had posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake or true by interrogating them,” he added.

  • Pegasus row: SC to continue hearing batch of pleas seeking probe into alleged snooping

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of petitions, including those filed by the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, seeking independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter.

    A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Suryakant and Aniruddha Bose will continue hearing the matter.

    On August 10, the top court had taken exception over “parallel proceedings and debates” on social media by some petitioners who have sought independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping issue and said there must be some discipline and they must have “some faith in the system”.

    The top court had said that it would take a call on August 16 on whether to issue notice to the Centre on pleas seeking probe into the Pegasus row and emphasised that it is not against debate but when the matter is pending in the apex court it should be deliberated upon here.

    The bench had said that it expects that petitioners who are interested in the matter would answer whatever queries the court would put to them by way of proper debate “in the court and not outside”.

    Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the court that he needs instructions from the government on the batch of pleas.

    The apex court is hearing a batch of pleas, including the one filed by the Editors Guild of India, seeking independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter.

    They are related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus.

    An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.

    Earlier, during the hearing of the matter, the top court had said that allegations of Pegasus related snooping are “serious in nature” if reports on them are correct.

    It had also asked the petitioners whether they had made any efforts to file a criminal complaint on this.

    The apex court, which had asked the petitioners to serve the copies of the pleas to the Centre, had also questioned why the matter has suddenly cropped up now when it had come to light way back in 2019.

    Editors Guild of India has sought in its plea that a special investigation team be set up to conduct a probe into reported surveillance of journalists and others.

  • SC to hear pleas seeking SIT probe into Pegasus issue

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear a batch of petitions seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the reports of the government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists and journalists.

    A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana will hear the pleas filed by journalists, Editors Guild of India, Rajya Sabha MP and an advocate.

    The pleas were filed by senior journalists N Ram, and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) and advocate ML Sharma.

    Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Shatakshi, who are reported to be on the potential list of snoop targets of Pegasus spyware, had also approached the top court along with The Editors Guild of India (EGI).

    ALSO READ: SC registry officials, lawyers of key clients, old number of judge were on Pegasus radar

    The pleas sought inquiry headed by a sitting or retired judge of the top court to investigate into the alleged snooping.

    The petition filed by N Ram, and Sashi Kumar sought a direction to the Centre to disclose if it or any of its agencies have used Pegasus Spyware either directly or indirectly to conduct surveillance in any manner.

    The plea said that the targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy case.

    The targeted hacking/interception of inter alia journalists, doctors, lawyers, civil society activists, government ministers and opposition politicians seriously compromises the effective exercise of the fundamental right to free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), added their petition.

    The petitioners have claimed that investigation involving several leading publications around the world has revealed that more than 142 Indians, including journalists, lawyers, government ministers, opposition politicians, constitutional functionaries and civil society activists, have been identified as “potential targets” for surveillance using Pegasus software.

    The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has sought a court-monitored SIT probe into the matter and also sought directions to the Centre to produce details of contracts entered into with foreign companies for deploying spyware for surveillance and the persons against whom such spyware was used.

    The plea of Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and others have sought direction to decalare that the installation or use of spyware such as Pegasus is illegal and unconstitutional. They said that the alleged unauthorised use of surveillance by government agencies have violated their fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

    They also sought that direction be issued to the Central government to produce and disclose to the Supreme Court all materials and documents with respect to all investigation, authorisation, and orders pertaining to the use of Pegasus on them.

    MP John Brittas in his plea has sought a court-monitored probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into reports of the government using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on people. The petition has said that despite the very serious nature of the allegations, the government has not cared to investigate into the issue.

    Advocate Sharma sought direction for an SIT probe on whether the Union government bought the Pegasus spyware following due procedure of law and whether and how it had been used since the purchase.

    Sharma said that in the interest of justice and fair play and for the protection of the life and liberty of the citizens of India, the Supreme Court should pass direction to set up an SIT under the supervision of this court for investigation Pegasus scandal and to prosecute all accused persons/ ministers for buying Pegasus and snooping of the citizen of India, including judges, opposition leaders and political persons, activist, advocates and others. 

  • Concerned that govt agencies being used as coercive tool: Editors guild on IT raids on media houses

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India on Friday said it is worried that government agencies are being used as a “coercive tool” to suppress free and independent journalism.

    Its remarks come after the Income Tax Department’s raids on Thursday across several states against prominent media group Dainik Bhaskar as well as Uttar Pradesh-based TV channel Bharat Samachar for alleged tax evasion.

    “The Editors Guild of India (EGI) is concerned about the income tax raids on July 22 at the offices of country’s leading newspaper group Dainik Bhaskar as well as a Lucknow-based independent news channel Bharat Samachar,” it said in a statement.

    “They come against the backdrop of in-depth reporting on the (COVID-19) pandemic by Dainik Bhaskar, which brought to the fore the gross mismanagement by government authorities and the immense loss of human lives,” the guild said.

    The Editors Guild of India is concerned about the Income Tax raids on July 22, at the offices of country’s leading newspaper group, Dainik Bhaskar, as well as a Lucknow based independent news channel, Bharat Samachar. pic.twitter.com/bkJM24TVfn
    — Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) July 23, 2021

    It claimed that in a webinar hosted by it recently, Dainik Bhaskar’s national editor Om Gaur had stated that their advertisements from government departments have been cut down after recent critical coverage of state authorities.

    “He had also written an Op-Ed in the New York Times, headlined ‘The Ganges is Returning the Dead. It Does Not Lie’,” the EGI noted.

    It said, “The EGI is therefore concerned that government agencies are being used as a coercive tool to suppress free and independent journalism. This is all the more disturbing given the recent media reports on the widespread surveillance of journalists and civil society activists using the Pegasus software.”

    On raids by the tax department on Bharat Samachar, the guild said that it is one of the few channels in Uttar Pradesh that has been asking difficult questions to the state government with respect to the pandemic’s management.

    ALSO READ | Tax raid on Dainik Bhaskar: Opposition hits out at Modi government; media group says readers’ will is supreme

    “Notwithstanding the merits of the case, the timing of these raids is concerning given the recent critical coverage by both the organisations,” the EGI said.

    In February, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted raids at the office of NewsClick.in, which had been at the forefront of reporting on the farmers agitation and the anti-CAA protests, it noted.

    The raids against Dainik Bhaskar, which has a presence in 12 states and runs newspapers as well as operates radio stations, web portals and mobile phone apps, started around 5:30 am on Thursday and were going on till late in the evening.

    They were taking place in 30 locations in different states.

    The premises of Bharat Samachar and its promoters and staffers were raided in Uttar Pradesh.

  • Pegasus snooping row: Media bodies demand SC-monitored inquiry

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Media bodies such as the Press Club of India and the Editors Guild of India on Thursday condemned the alleged snooping on journalists and others using a spyware while demanding a “Supreme Court-monitored inquiry” in the matter.

    Representatives of these media bodies also criticised the raids on media houses, including Dainik Bhaskar newspaper and Bharat Samachar channel, saying these are efforts to “crush dissent”.

    Representatives of the Press Club of India, the Editors Guild of India, the Indian Women’s Press Corps, the Press Association, the Delhi Union of Journalists, along with eminent media personalities, addressed a press conference and demanded that the government should launch a probe in the Pegasus spyware case and come clean on the issue.

    “We demand a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry into the acts of surveillance. Media organisations will explore constitutional options for the safeguard of democracy and freedom of press,” the Press Club of India said in a statement.

    “The use of the Pegasus spyware to snoop on Indian citizens and groups endangers India’s sovereignty and it is necessary that the government of India should intervene decisively and clarify how and why this was done,” it added.

    Addressing the gathering, Editors Guild of India general secretary Sanjay Kapoor said, “This spyware is destroying democracy and it will have to end. What they (Centre) did to Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat samachar is not going to work.”

    Senior journalist MK Venu said this was not the first time that the government launched an assault on the media.

    “The assault on the media has been constant, vicious and unceasing (under this government),” he said.

    On the Pegasus issue, Venu said it is being said that the spyware is only sold to governments and questioned why the prime minister and the home minister are shying away from announcing an inquiry.

    “Let people know who is doing it (snooping). If some other country is doing it, then it is a cyber attack on the country and India’s national security is at risk. We need answers. If there is no inquiry, then media houses should go to the court,” he said.

    Veteran journalist Mrinal Pandey condemned the raids on media houses.

    “Dainik Bhaskar showed some courage and tried to speak the truth on the Pegasus spyware case and the COVID-19 issue. We were sure that something should happen and today we got to know about the raids on its offices,” she said.

    Veteran journalist Prem Shankar Jha alleged that the purpose behind the Pegasus spyware case is to “crush dissent”.

    “They (government) want to deprive us of our right to dissent. Bhima-Koregaon is a perfect example. If democracy dies, India will not survive. The future of the country is at stake through such activities,” he said.

    Vinita Pandey of the IWPC said, “We condemn this snooping. We condemn the raids on media houses too. The government should launch an inquiry in the snooping matter.”