Purkayastha, along with the head of the outlet’s human resources, Amit Chakravarty, was among the 46 people arrested and questioned last week in what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based press freedom watchdog, called "an act of sheer harassment and intimidation."
Police carried out the operation under the anti-terror law called the Unlawful Activities Act, raiding the homes of prominent journalists and confiscating their phones and computers.
“This is the latest attack on press freedom in India. We urge the Indian government to immediately cease these actions as journalists must be allowed to work without fear of intimidation or reprisal,” said Beh Lih Yi, the CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator.
Prosecutors claim that NewsClick, which has been criticizing the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has received funds from a person in China, has created an incorrect map of India, and has sabotaged the general elections of 2019.
"Not a penny has come from China," Purkayastha declared in court, according to NDTV.
After last week’s police operation, NewsClick issued a statement, calling the raids an “attempt to shut down and stifle independent and fearless voices that portray the story of the real India.”
“We strongly condemn these actions of a government that refuses to respect journalistic independence and treats criticism as sedition or ‘anti-national’ propaganda,” the outlet said on its website.
The New York Times quoted Anurag Thakur, India’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, as saying that he does not need to justify the raids. “If anybody has committed a wrong, then investigation agencies will work on that,” he told the paper.
However, The New York Times itself published an investigation in August, claiming that corporate filings show that NewsClick was indeed financed by an American millionaire who works closely with the Chinese government media machine.
India, a South Asian country with a population of 1.4 billion people, is the world’s largest democracy with one of the biggest media markets globally.
Hundreds of journalists and activists protested last week in New Delhi, carrying banners that read: "Stop threatening media” and “Stop attacks on media.”
India is ranked 161st out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index according to Reporters Without Borders. It has dropped 20 places on that list since Modi became prime minister in 2014.
