Press freedom declining under Modi's India: report
World
Press freedom declining under Modi’s India: report
ISLAMABAD (APP) - The Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian regime is trampling the basic principles of press freedom which has been decline since Modi’s rise to power in 2014.
According to a report released by the Kashmir Media Service on Sunday, lawsuits, killings and intimidation of journalists is a common feature in Modi’s India as different intimidating tactics are being used to harass journalists.
It said India under Modi has passed laws to increase government surveillance and impact press freedom, adding there is a growing trend of judicial harassment and intimidation against those journalists who don’t toe the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) line and are booked under draconian laws for speaking truth.
The report lamented that since August 5, 2019, journalists have reported an intensified crackdown by authorities in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Media policy introduced in May 2020 is meant to further muzzle press in the territory, it deplored.
It said India, under Modi, continues to slide down the World Press Freedom Index and since Modi became PM in 2014, India has slipped in rank from 140 to 150 in the World Press Freedom Index of 180 countries.
The report said Modi’s India is responsible for ordering the highest number of network shutdowns in the world, adding most of the mainstream media outlets in India have been corrupted by the BJP and are run by Indian agencies.
It said many mainstream media organisations in India are owned by the BJP and RSS business tycoons who work for Hindutva policies. The Modi regime is also targeting free press to hide its crimes against religious minorities from the world, it deplored.
The report said the international community must put pressure on the Modi regime to stop expanding its control over media through the use of draconian laws.
