Prominent personalities from the arts, academia and the literary world have spoken out against the crackdown on news website NewsClick, and expressed fear that attempts may be made to plant evidence in the electronic devices seized from them.
A joint statement from activists Aruna Roy and V. Geetha, authors Geetanjali Shree, K.R. Meera, P. Sainath and Perumal Murugan, historian Ramachandra Guha and Carnatic maestro T.M. Krishna has called on others to speak up as well. Guha was present at the protest in the Press Club of India here on Wednesday.
“The action against NewsClick is a chilling attempt to silence their brave voices. Criticism is essential for a democracy and any attempt to mute voices is an assault on India’s democratic spirit,” the statement said.
“By foisting cases under sections of UAPA and sealing the office of NewsClick the State is attempting to vilify journalists who have consistently and fearlessly spoken truth to power.
“We have also come to know that many of them were detained by the Delhi police, and several of them have had their phones and laptops confiscated. This does not merely constitute a violation of their privacy but is also illegal since the devices have been confiscated without court orders and without their owners being informed of the details of the case.
“We record with concern that there have been reports in the past of manufactured ‘pieces of evidence’ being planted in the confiscated devices of activists who were detained under UAPA. We are genuinely worried that similar attempts will be made in the case of journalists of NewsClick.”
Two members of the top management of NewsClick were on Tuesday arrested in a terror case, with the police accusing the anti-establishment news website of receiving Chinese funds and running Chinese propaganda.
Scores of employees, ex-employees and contributors were raided and their computers, phones — and in some instances passports, bank documents and private as well as literary papers — were seized. Many were interrogated for the whole day at the special cell anti-terror unit of the Delhi police.
The Indian Public Service Employees’ Federation — a trade union — also slammed the police for raiding the home of its national adviser, the 75-year-old Gandhian activist Dipak Dholakia, in connection with the case.
In a statement, it asked Union home minister Amit Shah and Delhi lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena to release Dholakia’s laptop and mobile. Dholakia’s residence at Dilshad Garden, north Delhi, also serves as offices for several unions.
