In accordance with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other laws, sources claim that Delhi Police is conducting raids at various locations connected to NewsClick. Assistant Commissioner of Police for the Delhi Police Special Cell, Lalit Mohan Negi, arrived at the NewsClick office in the nation’s capital in the meantime. The Special Cell teams of the Delhi Police were dispatched at various sites at 30 places connected to the organization on Tuesday morning.
Gurdeep Singh Sappal, a leader in the Congress party, responded to the raids by saying that the crackdown on journalists and the media is a reflection of the BJP/RSS’s political philosophy rather than just an immediate cause-and-effect issue. “The Delhi Police are targeting journalists: Yesterday was Gandhi Jayanti. The Karachi Resolution on Fundamental Rights in Independent India was written in 1931 with the help of Mahatma Gandhi, according to a post by Sappal on X (formerly Twitter).
Recalling the first Fundamental Right promised to the citizens of India, he said, “Every citizen of India has the right of free expression of opinion, the rights of free association and combination, and the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, for purposes not opposed to law or morality.”
“This resolution was placed just six days after the execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Executed for what? Because they wanted their voice to be heard, and their opinion to be expressed. But their voices fell on deaf imperial government. So they threw a bomb in the Assembly, surrendered, didn’t contest their punishment and used the trial to send their message to the People of India,” he posted.
He further added that “Karachi resolution’s first Fundamental Right promised to the people of India that their Supreme Sacrifice would not go to waste. Independent India will have freedom of expression.”
“RSS was also formed by then. But never during the independence struggle did they promise Freedom of Expression and Association. There is not a single statement by their leaders, not a single resolution, not a single write-up in support of freedom of expression. RSS never stood for freedom of expression. Naturally, BJP never really believed in freedom of speech. It only paid a lip-service to it, though it enjoyed the freedom to serve its own political goals,” he added.
Congress leader further said, “So the crackdown on media and journalists is not just a matter of instant causation. It is an expression of the political philosophy of BJP/RSS, it represents the India they want to create surreptitiously.” He further said that mere condemnation of the crackdown on journalists is not enough.
“Stand up to save India which was promised by the Independence Movement, crafted by the Constitution of India… by voting BJP out,” he added.
Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti further alleged that during the raids telephone devices were forcibly snatched only for a fishing expedition.
“GOI claims India is the mother of democracy and about press freedom abroad yet in the same breath uses state agencies to crackdown on the remaining handful of independent media outlets. Even telephone devices have been forcibly snatched only for a fishing expedition. The repeated illegal pattern of arrest first & creating fake charges later is extremely perturbing,” Mufti posted on X.
The agency, in February 2021, raided the premises of NewsClick and the residences of its editors in connection with a case of alleged money laundering and conducted search and seizure operations. Its case related to alleged foreign funding is based on an FIR registered by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing.