In connection with the continuing police crackdown on the news website NewsClick, the Delhi Police Special Cell also searched the residence of CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday, October 3.
The raid was motivated by the presence of a graphic artist linked with the news website who was reportedly staying on the premises. Notably, Yechury is the husband of ‘journalist’ Seema Chisti who works as the editor of The Wire, a portal known for spreading fake news and propaganda.
Delhi Police searched senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury's residence over suspected Chinese fund to #NewsClick. pic.twitter.com/uXsDwhLtgP
— Pramod Kumar Singh (@SinghPramod2784) October 3, 2023
Yechury confirmed the news however denied that the raid was not targeting the CPI-M, but rather the son of a party office employee who works at NewsClick as a graphics artist.
#WATCH | Delhi: On Delhi Police conducting raids at different premises linked to NewsClick, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury says, "Police came to my residence because one of my companions who lives with me there, his son works for NewsClick. Police came to question him.… pic.twitter.com/ULoF9G7W7O
— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2023
The homes of several NewsClick journalists were raided today by the Delhi Police in connection with a case under UAPA. The Delhi Police Special Cell has filed a fresh case against the news portal under the strict Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), weeks after a New York Times investigation revealed that the news portal had received funds from a promoting Chinese propaganda.
The home of television journalist turned YouTuber Abhisar Sharma was one of the places seized by the Delhi Police in connection with the Newsclick matter. Abhisar Sharma took to X (formerly Twitter) to report that the Delhi Police showed up at his home and confiscated his laptop and phone.
As reported, the places of several journalists associated with Newsclick, including Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Prabir Purkayastha, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Sohail Hashmi have been raided by the police.
The action by the Delhi Police comes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the home of NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha. In February 2021, ED found several incriminating documents and suspicious financial transactions from the residence of Purkayastha.
The crackdown is said to have began after in August this year, a report published by The New York Times exposed the ties of an American businessman with the Chinese government and his financial support to an Indian leftist propaganda outlet, NewsClick. A millionaire named Neville Roy Singham was funding several news publications across the world (including India) to peddle Chinese propaganda, the report stated.
Notably, Sitaram Yechury himself has contributed to the controversial news portal by launching attacks on the ruling government. In one of the articles published in the year 2017, Yechury targeted the BJP of creating ‘communal polarization’ and ‘caste-based social engineering’.
In one of his other articles published in 2017, he wrote that the Hindu groups under the BJP government were ‘harassing the youths’ and targeting the minorities. He also said that the government was busy imposing the ‘RSS agenda’ over the country and trying to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
Yechury meanwhile failed to mention that the Hindu groups who he called were ‘targeting’ the minority communities actually protect the Hindu girls who are deliberately targeted by the minority communities under the pretext of love relationships. The Hindu girls are trapped in a love affair, then raped, assaulted, and forced to convert their religion to Islam. Several such cases have been reported by OpIndia.
Notably, similar action has been taken in Mumbai against activist Teesta Setalvad, who served as a ‘tool’ in the hands of politicians to defame the Modi government after the 2002 Gujarat riots. She is the director of the think tank Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. The think tank has contributed to Newsclick with articles.
In a statement, the Press Club of India has voiced worry about the raids, noting that they “stand in solidarity with the journalists and demand that the government provide details.”
The Press Club of India is deeply concerned about the multiple raids conducted on the houses of journalists and writers associated with #Newsclick.
— Press Club of India (@PCITweets) October 3, 2023
We are monitoring the developments and will be releasing a detailed statement.
Notably, on August 7 this year, the government happened to take cognizance of Chinese funding to NewsClick after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raised the issue in Parliament. He cited the report published by the New York Times and said, “Chinese goods are being sold at Rahul Gandhi’s nafrat ki dukaan (hate shop). The New York Times has published an interesting report. About Rs 38 crores have been received by organizations such as NewsClick. The report by the newspaper also reiterated the findings of the Enforcement Directorate. NewsClick is a part of the anti-India, tukde tukde gang. (Prabir) Purkayastha is the owner.”
The BJP leader said that funds accumulated by the NewsClick owner were routed to Maoists, Naxalites, and propaganda artists such as (Abhisar) Sharma, Rohini Singh, and Swati Chaturvedi. He added that the Chinese government is also spending money to create an anti-India narrative.
Nishikant Dubey also exposed the ties of the Congress Party with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He accused the grand old party of being in talks with China during the infamous 2017 Dokhlam standoff.
NewsClick also is said to have furthered the Chinese agenda during the COVID-19 spread. The email exchanges dated March 30, 2020, on China’s handling of COVID-19 between Prabir and Singham were shared by Zee News journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, days after New York Times investigation said that Singham was using its network of nonprofits and media organizations spread across the world to propagate Chinese propaganda.
The investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) unveiled that an overseas fund amounting to Rs. 38.05 crores was deceitfully injected into NewsClick over a span of three years.
The received funds purportedly found their way to numerous contentious journalists, among them Gautam Navlakha and individuals associated with Teesta Setalvad.
The individuals being raided were or are connected to NewsClick which is under scanner for taking money from a hostile nation – China – to further their state propaganda in India and gainst the sovereignty of India.
