MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Wednesday charged that the arrest of Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick and the raids in the houses of journalists working for the news portal was an attempt at crippling the free media in the country.
In a statement in Chennai, he said the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was constantly targeting the media and the BBC was subjected to it last month. “The arrest of Mr. Purkayastha and raids in the house of journalists were the latest in the series of onslaught launched by the BJP government against the media,” he said.
Mr Vaiko said even though the Supreme Court in 2021 through an order prevented any action against the news portal, the BJP built a case against it by raising an issue of alleged money laundering from China. “The BJP leaders continuously spoke against NewsClick and it culminated in the arrest of Mr. Purkayastha and raids,” he said and called upon democratic forces to defeat the designs of the BJP government.
