Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, expressed her displeasure on Wednesday regarding the Income Tax survey conducted at the offices of the BBC in Mumbai and Delhi. She accused the current BJP government of engaging in a “political vendetta” against the media organization.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly condemned the Income Tax survey conducted by the BJP government at the offices of the BBC. She termed this survey as a “political vendetta”, further stating that such actions are curbing the freedom of the press and that “one day there will be no media in India”.
A day after the Indian Income Tax (I-T) Department conducted a survey operation at the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) offices as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, comments were made. On Wednesday, the survey operation against BBC India persisted for the second day.
Weeks after the British broadcaster released a two-part documentary titled “India: The Modi Question”, a central probe agency has taken action in relation to it. This documentary focuses on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his alleged involvement in the Gujarat riots of 2002.
On Wednesday, Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to destroy India’s democratic system.
Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi, “Media is the fourth pillar of democracy, and an attack on its freedom is similar to suppressing the voice of the public. Whosoever speaks against the BJP, and these people deploy CBI, ED, and I-T behind him. Does the BJP want to crush the country’s democratic system and institutions and turn the entire country into its slave”?
Mehbooba Mufti, president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), stated that survey operations were “nothing new” in Jammu and Kashmir. She also mentioned how journalists Fahad Shah and Sajad Gul had been imprisoned as an example of the hardships faced by journalists in the region.
“There is nothing new. Especially in Jammu and Kashmir, we have been seeing for the past three years how journalists are treated. Fahad Shah and Sajad Gul have been jailed. Unfortunately, the national and international community stayed silent when it was happening here, and now it is happening there as well,” she said.
The BBC, renowned for its credibility internationally, was raided after the airing of a documentary about the Gujarat riots. This incident has tarnished India’s reputation abroad and has undermined the BJP’s claims of being a “World Guru”. It is a great disappointment for a country that is known to be the birthplace of democracy.
READ ALSO:
Shiv Pratap Shukla is to be Sworn in as Governor of Himachal Pradesh on Feb 18
President Droupadi Murmu Reshuffles 7 Governors, Appoints 6 New Ones
