The income tax department’s 'survey' related operations at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai continued for the second day on Wednesday, according to sources.
Meanwhile, BBC is learnt to have informed its employees to work from home and has advised them to refrain from answering questions related to personal income. However, the broadcaster has at the same time directed its employees to answer other salary-related questions.
Survey has attracted strong reactions from various political parties
The survey has evoked strong reactions from various political parties, with the Congress on Wednesday expressing concern andsaying it shocks all as it ruins the image of India.
Party spokesman Pawan Khera highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrates little known awards he got but unleashes agencies on media houses that expose his own past.
The BBC documentary has been called a part of a conspiracy hatched abroad against him, Khera pointed out. Were Dainik Bhaskar, NewsClick, Newslaundry, NDTV, The Wire, and The Quint all part of a foreign conspiracy, Khera asked.
Is India's foreign policy so weak that anybody can conspire against the mother of democracy, Khera wondered.
"Modi doesn't even understand the BBC's revenue model as it is not a profit and loss kind of model. BBC works on the licence fees, which every subscriber pays to a post office in the UK and that money is handed over by the post office to the BBC to run its day-to-day operations. They do not depend on advertisements. How does the Indian income tax department come into picture? Modi doesn't need to understand. He just needs to unleash his agencies on these media houses because they have dared to talk about his past," Khera said.
Very unfortunate: TMC
The Income Tax department's survey on BBC India's offices is “very unfortunate” and smacks of political vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.
The Income Tax department's action, which had begun on Tuesday at BBC's Delhi and Mumbai offices and continued on Wednesday, has come in the wake of the broadcaster airing a two-part documentary, "India: The Modi Question", on the prime minister and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Such actions affect freedom of the press, Banerjee said alleging that the saffron party is controlling the media. "One day there will be no media in the country. They (BJP leaders) don't care about people's mandate," she said.
There is nothing new in the action and the BJP-led government had adopted similar measures against journalists in Kashmir, alleged PDP president Mehbooba Mufti. The survey is sending a wrong message internationally and damaging India's image as a democracy, she said.
"There is nothing new. Especially in Jammu and Kashmir, we have been seeing for the past three years how journalists are treated. This has damaged the image of India at international level. They are defaming the country. It has also exposed the BJP's Vishwaguru claims," she said.
The Centre is destroying Indian democracy and also the freedom of the press, according to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. "Those misusing the people's mandate and are responsible for destroying Indian Democracy and Freedom of Press should remember that the people of this country are silently watching you and will give a fitting lesson in the impending elections," he tweeted.
Suppressing the media is akin to suppressing the voice of the public, according to Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and an attack on its freedom is similar to suppressing the voice of public. Whosoever speaks against the BJP, these people deploy CBI, ED and I-T against them," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. “Does the BJP want to crush the country's democratic system and institutions and turn the entire country into its slave?" he asked.
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