About three weeks ago, BBC India released a two-part documentary, “India: The Modi Question”, insinuating PM Narendra Modi’s involvement in the infamous Gujarat 2002 riots who was the then Chief Minister of Gujarat.
This would have implied his sectarian attitude and politics towards the Muslim minority of the country which would have tarnished his and his party’s reputation badly on the national and international stage. And hence the Government of India banned all those clips from spreading wild across all social media platforms and screening in universities inside India by using “emergency powers”. Also, several students who were protesting against this subtle censorship and conducting the screening on the campuses are being arrested. Supreme Court of India dismissed the petition filed by a Hindu Nationalist Organisation to ban BBC in India.
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Indian Tax Agents in Action
Consequently, Indian Tax Authorities did not take much time to raid the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai which was described as a “survey” by the Indian government. The tax officials entered the premises on early Tuesday and continued their investigations till Wednesday.
They seized financial documents, accounts, and the phones and laptops of journalists and employers at the offices. No one was allowed to enter or exit the offices. The tax officers said they are investigating BBC for tax evasion, divergence of profits, and non-compliance of Indian Laws. Later in the evening, some of the employees have been asked to stay to cooperate with the ongoing inquiries. BBC is hoping to resolve the matter and dutifully cooperating with the tax agents.
Stance of Indian Government and BJP
The Indian Government condemned BBC for operating with hidden agendas and pushing a particular discredited narrative through the documentary. Furthermore, the government also said that this documentary lacks objectivity, is biased, and visibly pictures the colonial mindset to which BBC responded that the documentary was “rigorously researched according to the highest editorial standards”.
Present at a news conference Tuesday, BJP spokesperson, Gaurav Bhatia confirmed the raid and said companies, including media agencies, must “follow and respect Indian law.” BJP alleged BBC is “rubbish” and the most corrupt organization in the world in distasteful manner. The sudden but predictable move by the Government of India against BBC is celebrated by the members and supporters of the BJP party and the trolls.
Comments from Bystanders
Numerous Press Bodies and opposition politicians have condemned this act of the government.
- The Editor’s Guild of India said it was “deeply concerned” by the development and opined “the raids were a continuation of a trend that undermines constitutional democracy.”
- The Press Club of India said issued a statement, “the raids will damage the reputation and image of India as the world’s largest democracy”.
Countries like U.S.A and U.K. have given blink-and-miss reactions to this occurrence.
Modi government has been engaged in the tax raids of other news organisations like NewsClick, Newslaundry, Dainik Bhaskar, and Bharat Samachar. It has become a growing trend of the current government to take shots to suppress the voices of the people and organisations who are critical of its works.
The true essence of a democracy is freedom of speech which the government wants to put in a cage. No wonder why India scored 150th rank among 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters without Borders in the year of 2022!