The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has condemned the Central Government controlled Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on the digital news platform news click and described them as a continuation of the Government’s ongoing efforts to silence the media critical of its policies.
In a statement issued on Wednesday K. Sreenivas Reddy and Balwinder Singh Jammu President and Secretary-General of IJU respectively said that five journalists have been arrested in the country in the first month of 2021 creating a record of sorts. They also recalled the recent sedition charges against senior journalists who were covering developments on Republic Day.
The news portal news click has been closely covering the ongoing farmer’s agitation against the farm laws. The raid by ED on a small news portal and the immediate allegation of Rs.30 crore money laundering betray the designs of the Government the IJU leaders commented.
Raids by obliging central agencies and FIRs by puppet police in various states against journalists are a clear and brazen effort to silence the critical media by creating fear psychosis, the IJU leaders said. They demanded the Government to desist from this kind of tactics and help foster a media-friendly environment crucial to the sustenance of democracy.
IJU condemns Enforcement Directorate raids on the digital news platform news click
