#NewsRail: India: Income Tax is carrying out raids at multiple offices of Dainik Bhaskar and at Bharat Samachar’s office in Lucknow. The alleged reason behind this sudden raid as per the Opposition is Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Samachar’s efforts to stay true to journalism and uncover the lies narrated by the Centre.The two media groups have been critical of the COVID-19 management of the government during the second wave of the pandemic. Bharat Samachar has been critical of the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh for quite some time. According to the sources, raids are happening in Bhopal, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Noida, Lucknow and some other locations including their offices as well as residences.Dainik Bhaskar’s front page for today’s edition directly refuted the claim by the Centre that during the second wave there were no deaths due to the lack of oxygen. A day before yesterday, Dainik Bhaskar had also published a story on Pegasus that the Modi government is trying to deny any connections with. An editor of Dainik Bhaskar named Om Gaur had also written an op-ed in the New York Times headlined ‘The Ganges Is Returning The Dead. It Does Not Lie’. In April, it directly took a hit at the Government’s mismanagement of COVID-19 and the lies around the number of deaths that were spread.The Print reported that a source from the IT Department has said that these raids were linked to evasion of taxes and they added that “it was early to divulge further details”. A statement had been issued by Dainik Bhaskar Group which stated “government is scared of honest journalism.” The statement further said “Mobile phones of our employees are being seized and they aren’t allowed to go outside. IT team officials are saying this is a part of the process.” Jairam Ramesh from Congress tweeted “Through its reporting Dainik Bhaskar has exposed the Modi regime’s monumental mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now paying the price. An Undeclared Emergency as Arun Shourie has said – this is a Modified Emergency.” Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh tweeted “पत्रकारिता पर मोदीशाह का प्रहार!! मोदीशाह का एक मात्र हथियार IT ED CBI! मुझे विश्वास है अग्रवाल बंधु डरेंगे नहीं। दैनिक भास्कर के विभिन्न ठिकानों पर इनकम टैक्स इन्वेस्टिगेशन विंग की छापामार कार्रवाई शुरू... प्रेस कॉन्प्लेक्स सहित आधा दर्जन स्थानों पर मौजूद है इनकम टैक्स की टीम.” This roughly translates to “Modi Shah’s attack on Journalism. Modi Shah’s only weapon IT ED CBI! I am sure that my friend Agarwal won’t get scared. Income Tax Investigation wing has started investigating Dainik Bhaskar’s various locations. Income Tax’s team is at Press Complex along with other 6 six places.”Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee tweeted “The attack on journalists & media houeses is yet another BRUTAL attempt to stifle democracy. #DainikBhaskar bravely reported the way @narendramodi ji mishandled the entire #COVID crisis and led the country to its most horrifying days amid a raging pandemic.This is not the first time where a Government-run authority has raided or disrupted the smooth functioning of a media house right after they have published stories while criticising the government. It was not the first and it certainly won’t be the last as the majority of the governments that we have had so far have tried to silence dissent against them especially when it comes from Mass Media in one way or the other. Recently in February, Enforcement Directorate had raided the residencies of several officials and journalists associated with NewsClick.in.
