Premi Posted February 14, 2023 Report Share Posted February 14, 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/14/bbc-offices-india-raided-tax-officials-modi-documentary-fallout BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout Searches come weeks after release of documentary critical of PM that was later blocked by government Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi Tue 14 Feb 2023 12.47 GMT BBC offices in India have been raided by tax department officials, just weeks after the release of a documentary critical of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, which was later blocked by the government. According to those working at the broadcaster, more than a dozen officials from the country’s income tax department turned up at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai, where hundreds of employees are based, to conduct a “survey”. Documents and phones of several journalists were taken and the offices sealed. Officers told local media the searches on Tuesday morning were part of a tax evasion investigation into the business operations of the BBC in India and several accounts and financial files were seized. The BBC confirmed the raids and said it was fully cooperating. “We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” said the statement. It comes as the BBC is at the centre of a controversy in India over a two-part documentary series, India: The Modi Question, which focused on the role that Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat, played in violent Hindu-Muslim riots that ripped through his state in 2002 and left more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The BBC is just the latest organisation to be hit with a tax evasion investigation following reports that have reflected poorly on the Modi government. Tax raids have been carried out on Oxfam and several thinktanks, while Amnesty International, which had documented the erosion of human rights and persecution of minorities, had to shutter its India operations in 2020 after its accounts were frozen by a central government agency. Amnesty called the raid on the BBC “a blatant affront” to freedom of expression. “The Indian authorities are clearly trying to harass and intimidate the BBC.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GurjantGnostic Posted February 14, 2023 Report Share Posted February 14, 2023 12 minutes ago, Premi said: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/14/bbc-offices-india-raided-tax-officials-modi-documentary-fallout BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout Searches come weeks after release of documentary critical of PM that was later blocked by government Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi Tue 14 Feb 2023 12.47 GMT BBC offices in India have been raided by tax department officials, just weeks after the release of a documentary critical of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, which was later blocked by the government. According to those working at the broadcaster, more than a dozen officials from the country’s income tax department turned up at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai, where hundreds of employees are based, to conduct a “survey”. Documents and phones of several journalists were taken and the offices sealed. Officers told local media the searches on Tuesday morning were part of a tax evasion investigation into the business operations of the BBC in India and several accounts and financial files were seized. The BBC confirmed the raids and said it was fully cooperating. “We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” said the statement. It comes as the BBC is at the centre of a controversy in India over a two-part documentary series, India: The Modi Question, which focused on the role that Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat, played in violent Hindu-Muslim riots that ripped through his state in 2002 and left more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The BBC is just the latest organisation to be hit with a tax evasion investigation following reports that have reflected poorly on the Modi government. Tax raids have been carried out on Oxfam and several thinktanks, while Amnesty International, which had documented the erosion of human rights and persecution of minorities, had to shutter its India operations in 2020 after its accounts were frozen by a central government agency. Amnesty called the raid on the BBC “a blatant affront” to freedom of expression. “The Indian authorities are clearly trying to harass and intimidate the BBC.... They're going full retard....never go ...full retard 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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