Over 700 Citizens, Including Journalists, Academics, Lawyers, Artistes, Condemn ‘Hounding’ of NewsClick

New Delhi: Over 700 people, including senior journalists, academics, performing artistes, students, lawyers, judges, scientists among others have released a statement expressing solidarity with NewsClick and condemning the media trial going on against the independent news portal.

“The hounding of Newsclick is an attack on the freedom of expression enshrined in our Constitution. It is an attack on the conscientious role of independent journalism in a democracy to inform its readers about the government’s failings and to hold the government accountable,” says the statement.

The signatories include senior journalists, such as John Dayal, N. Ram, Prem Shankar Jha, Sidhharth  Varadarajan and M. K. Venu, Sudheendra Kulkarni, P. Sainath, Vaishna Roy, Bezwada Wilson (National Convenor, Safai Karamchari Andolan), Aruna Roy (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan), senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, Justice (Retd) K. Chandru, Colin Gonsalves, Prashant Bhushan, Harsh Mander, Syeda Hameed, among others:

‘Newsclick has provided critical coverage of government policies and actions and their adverse impact on the lives of millions of our countrymen and women, focusing particularly on the struggles of the most oppressed and exploited sections of our society, its workers and peasants,” read the statement, adding that the “hounding” of Newsclick, based on claims published in an article by the New York Times, that has not alleged any violation of law by the portal in “unfortunate” more so because “a vicious media trial is being staged although investigation into the allegations brought against Newsclick are in court.”

Read the full statement and list of signatories below:

Statement in Solidarity with Newsclick

“We, the undersigned, take strong exception to the spurious accusations levelled against the online news portal Newsclick and its founder and editor-in-chief, Prabir Purkayastha, based on claims published in a New York Times report. The NYT report does not allege any violation of law by Newsclick. Since its inception, Newsclick has provided critical coverage of government policies and actions and their adverse impact on the lives of millions of our countrymen and women, focusing particularly on the struggles of the most oppressed and exploited sections of our society, its workers and peasants. It has sought to articulate their anguish and distress and to highlight the role of people’s movements of all hues fighting for social justice. It has also carried reports that critically analyse international events seen through the often differing perspectives of individual authors.

The hounding of Newsclick is an attack on the freedom of expression enshrined in our Constitution. It is an attack on the conscientious role of independent journalism in a democracy to inform its readers about the government’s failings and to hold the government accountable. It is an attack on the right of the people of this country to information that can enable them to fight against injustice. Unfortunately, in the era of corporate-owned media, the space for independent journalism that is free of corporate influence has shrunk. It is all the more unfortunate that a vicious media trial is being staged although investigations into the allegations brought against Newsclick are in court.

We, the undersigned, strongly protest the targeting of Newsclick and express our solidarity: