New Delhi: The Press Club of India on Wednesday, April 24, raised concerns over the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) journalist, Avani Dias, being forced to ‘leave’ India over her reporting on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The Sydney Morning Herald called it a “campaign of intimidation and bureaucratic meddling by the nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” Dias was told by the government that her reporting had ‘crossed a line.’
Avani Dias has been working as South Asia bureau chief for Australia’s national broadcaster in India since 2021. She claimed she was asked to leave for reporting on New Delhi’s alleged involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. The government, however, denied this allegation.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Dias said, “After Australian Government intervention, I got a mere two-month extension…less than 24 hours before my flight.”
She added, “We were also told my election accreditation would not come through because of an Indian Ministry directive. We left on day one of voting in the national election in what Modi calls ‘the mother of democracy’.”
Last week, I had to leave India abruptly. The Modi Government told me my visa extension would be denied, saying my reporting “crossed a line”. After Australian Government intervention, I got a mere two-month extension …less than 24 hours before my flight. 1/2
— Avani Dias (@AvaniDias) April 22, 2024
According to ABC, YouTube blocked access in India to an episode of its news series Foreign Correspondent on Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing on New Delhi’s orders.
Dias left the country last week, Hindustan Times reported.
“Foreign correspondents, based in India, have also voiced their concern over circumstances under which ABC Bureau Chief was forced to leave India. We demand that the government should come clear on this issue and state the reasons behind denial of visa extension to her,” said a statement by the Press Club of India.
Press Club of India feels that such actions at the time of general elections, the world’s largest democratic exercise, cast aspersions on the democratic traditions of our country, it said.
The move puts a “blot on the working of free press in India,” described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “mother of democracies.”
It further raised concerns over the way French journalist Vanessa Dougnac, who had been the longest serving foreign correspondent in India, announced her departure from India on February 16 this year, after the Modi government issued a revocation of her Overseas Citizen of India card for alleged concerns over her reporting.
The revocation notice was sent to Dougnac by the Ministry of Home Affairs, citing various grounds for the revocation, ranging from “malicious” reporting that created a “negative perception” of India, inciting disorder, not taking permission for travelling to restricted areas and doing reporting on neighbouring countries.
Following a declining trend that emerged in 2017, India’s press freedom rank dropped to 161 out of 180 countries surveyed in the World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders in 2023.
