Prominent Figures Speak Out Against NewsClick Raid, Express Fear of Evidence Planting

On the news website NewsClick, prominent figures from the arts, academics, and literature have spoken out against the crackdown and expressed concern that attempts may be made to plant evidence in the electronic devices taken from them.

The authors Geetanjali Shree, K.R. Meera, P. Sainath, Perumal Murugan, historian Ramachandra Guha, and Carnatic music master T.M. Krishna have all issued a joint statement encouraging others to do the same. Wednesday's demonstration at the Press Club of India in this city saw Guha in attendance.

It is a disturbing attempt to stifle their courageous voices that NewsClick is being sued. A democracy needs criticism, and any attempt to silence critics is an attack on India's democratic values, the statement stated.

The State is trying to discredit journalists who have regularly and boldly challenged authority by bringing prosecutions under the UAPA and sealing the NewsClick office.

We have learned that several of them had their phones and laptops seized by the Delhi police after they were detained. Since the devices were seized without a warrant and without the owners being made aware of the specifics of the case, this not only amounts to an invasion of their privacy but is also illegal.

"We note with alarm that stories of fake 'pieces of evidence' being placed in the confiscated devices of activists who were detained under UAPA have previously surfaced. We sincerely fear that similar attempts may be made on NewsClick journalists.

Tuesday saw the arrest of two NewsClick executives in connection with a terror investigation; the police claim that the anti-establishment news site received Chinese funding and disseminated Chinese propaganda.

Numerous employees, former employees, and contributors had their homes searched, and their computers, phones, and occasionally their passports, bank records, and personal papers were taken. At the Delhi police's special cell anti-terror section, several were questioned for the entire day.

The 75-year-old Gandhian activist and national adviser of the trade union Indian Public Service Employees' Federation, Dipak Dholakia, was the target of a police raid that was condemned by the union.

In a statement, it requested the release of Dholakia's laptop and phone from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena. The home of Dholakia in north Delhi's Dilshad Garden doubles as various unions' offices.