Since Modi became prime minister in 2014, India has slipped in rank from 140 to 150 in the World Press Freedom Index of 180 countries compiled by Reporters Without Borders.īut Sen says the Indian public seems largely unmoved by the weakening of the fourth pillar of democracy - a result of what he calls Modi's 'overbearing, cult-like presence in everyday India.' What's surprising is that they went after a foreign organization, BBC, which is a household name in India and has a reputation for fairness and objectivity.' India's press freedom rankings have dropped 'This is not the first time that a media organization has been raided. 'What they're saying is that you better fall in line,' she explains. Jyoti Malhotra, a Delhi-based media critic, says everyone in India knows what a tax search means. The Press Club of India said the raid was a 'clear cut case of vendetta.' Jaishankar, q uestioned the timing of the documentary release - a year before India's next national elections - and alleged that the documentary was part of an attempt to 'shape a very extremist image' of India and its prime minister.Ī government adviser denied that the tax search was related to the documentary. A spokesperson for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called the BBC 'the most corrupt organization which has little regard for India's constitution while it works from here,' while other officials called the documentary 'hostile propaganda' and 'anti-India garbage' with a 'colonial mindset.' Pro-government media outlets cast doubt on the BBC's credibility. Worries intensified in February, when India's tax authorities raided the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai and, after three days of search, accused the British broadcaster of evading taxes. In January, the government proposed new rules for digital media, which would ban content the government judges to be 'fake or false.' The Indian government recently targeted the BBC If this trend continues, the future is grim for Indian democracy.' 'What's left,' Sen says, 'is a few major outlets that are independent. Kesavan says that most Indian media houses have become defenders of the Hindu nationalist government, selling the majoritarian populist agenda.

Since then, Ambani has become the boss of more than 70 outlets across the country, with a combined weekly audience of at least 800 million viewers. Soon after Modi became prime minister in 2014, NDTV's biggest competitor, Network 18, was acquired by Mukesh Ambani, another of Modi's billionaire allies. Some major Indian digital outlets remain independent The latest journalist to be arrested was Irfan Mehraj, a reporter from Jammu and Kashmir, who was picked up on March 20 in connection with a 'terror funding case.'Īmnesty termed Mehraj's arrest 'a travesty and yet another instance of the long-drawn repression of human rights.' Kashmiri journalists have long been targeted by the Indian government.

World Indian authorities accuse the BBC of tax evasion after raiding their offices

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