THE arrest of Mr. Prabir Purkayastha, the founder of news portal NewsClick, and Mr. Amit Chakravarty, the Human Resources Head of the portal, in a foreign funding case -- and subsequent groundswell of support and opposition to the action by Delhi Police under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act -- UAPA -- is a very serious issue that needs a careful handling beyond superficial politics on either side of the political divide. In fact, it is only foolhardy to offer knee-jerk reaction to the development just because a news portal is involved in it. But, going by the overall standard of India’s vibrant and open democracy, it is rather preposterous to accuse that the Government is suppressing free speech. That will be only a hasty conclusion that will stand no sensible scrutiny. It is common knowledge, however, that a lot of propaganda is being carried out in the country to malign the democratic systems and institutions -- mainly funded by foreign elements with clear political goals. It is also common knowledge that these foreign masterminds are operating through their Indian agents who also happen to be in politics, media, social work and academics. Against the background of this reality, there is every reason to suspect that the action against NewsClick may have had genuine triggers leading to the steps the Delhi Police ultimately took -- in the process raiding as many as 30 locations in the national capital and interrogating several journalists before arresting two persons.

 

It is certainly a matter of grave concern and therefore requires a deeper investigation so that no detail slips from consideration. In the past some years, the nation has known that certain ‘toolkits’ have been made functional to bring disrepute the country and its systems -- unstatedly aimed maligning the Government headed by the indomitable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. These ‘toolkits’ are known to become active as elections approach and assume menacing dimensions with a clear view of distracting the common voter from making a non-partisan assessment of the political parties in the electoral arena. In other words, these ‘toolkits’ are used to distract the common voters from favouring the dominant political organisation -- the Bharatiya Janata Party -- in India’s case. The nation knows enough details about how this ‘toolkit’ business is operated. It is also common knowledge that masterminds operating from China and Pakistan -- as well as from some western countries -- work systematically to dominate current political narrative of the country by bringing bad name to systems and institutions including the Government.

 

Various surveys and studies have revealed clearly that the Chinese propaganda machinery works overtime to create a disturbed narrative in India. Masterminds from Pakistan, too, are active in this regard, but are often stated to be quite crude and therefore ineffective to a large extent. The Chinese, on the other hand, are quite sophisticated in their approach. They are known to be funding their Indian agents sumptuously particularly when elections draw nearer. All this makes a strong case for a deeper and more detailed probe into the NewsClick case. Various political parties and professional bodies of journalists and news organisations also need to remember that jumping into the frey on impulse may prove disastrous for the larger Indian society in the long run. It would be wise for all, therefore, to allow the investigations to continue undisturbed so that the truth comes out in full detail -- this way or that way. For the moment, therefore, political stance-taking must be avoided.