Geneva: The Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the ongoing assault on media freedom in India and the detention of journalists, saying, “Our office is troubled by reports of raids, arrests and detentions, and seizures of property of journalists in Delhi yesterday (Tuesday).”
Responding to seemingly ominous developments in India regarding press freedom and unstoppable muzzling of the media, a spokesperson told The Wire on Wednesday that the right to freedom of expression of journalists must be respected, and space must be afforded to them and the public for free and open debate.
During the past 48 hours, India appears to have witnessed its worst assault on journalists, with the founder of the online news portal NewsClick, Prabir Purkayastha and HR department Amit Chakravarty, detained under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities ( Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The detention of several people working for NewsClick sent shockwaves across countries that embrace democratic values, said a media analyst in Geneva.
The arrests of Purkayastha and Chakravarthy came on the evening of October 3, after early morning ‘raids’ on the homes of journalists, contributors, columnists, and other staff of the NewsClick.
The seizure of electronic devices – laptops and telephones – of dozens of journalists by the police seemed commonplace in India at this juncture. And on top of it, to charge them under the allegedly draconian UAPA, which is tantamount to treating journalists as terrorists, does not augur well for India, which prides itself as a “mother of democracy, the analyst said.
Against this backdrop, the spokesperson in the office of the Human Rights Commissioner said: “We have previously expressed concern about the shrinking of civic space in India, in particular for independent journalists and activists, and yesterday’s events may have a further chilling effect.”
More disturbingly, those who are being targeted include authors, journalists, satirists, historians and scientists associated with NewsClick. In all, more than 40 persons were interrogated by Delhi Police’s special cell as part of the raid.
During the past ten years, India has dropped in the World Press Freedom Index rankings to 161th position, in the bottom twenty of the 180 countries that are assessed.