‘Assault on independent journalism’: Digipub criticises tax raids on media funding body, think tank
Abdul Gh Lone 8 September 2022 0 COMMENTS
The Income Tax department’s raids on the offices of the Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation, non-governmental organisation Oxfam India in Bengaluru and the Centre for Policy Research think tank in Delhi is an assault on independent journalism and research, a digital media collective said on Thursday.
The Digipub News India Foundation, an 11-member digital-only news association, said that raids show “how petrified our government is of independent media”. Scroll.in is among the founding members of the association.
On Wednesday, Income Tax officials raided the offices of the Centre for Policy Research, Oxfam India and the Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation. The department did not issue a statement on the reasons for the raids, but unidentified officials told The New Indian Express that the authorities checked receipts of funds received through the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act.
Digipub said on Thursday that it “strongly condemns” the raids and called on the Income Tax Department to state the reasons behind the actions.
DIGIPUB condemns the raids on the IPSMF, the CPR and Oxfam India. pic.twitter.com/v0uADTY1NQ
— DIGIPUB News India Foundation (@DigipubIndia) September 8, 2022
The media collective noted that this was not the first time that such raids have been carried out in recent years.
“Without any clarity on allegations or evidence, Income Tax teams are being used to intimidate and harass organisations…
