The BBC said it was cooperating fully. 'We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,' it said in a statement. 9News
Officials from India's Income Tax Department searched the BBC's offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday, weeks after it broadcast a controversial documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the British broadcaster said.
The investigation is "undemocratic" and "reeks of desperation and shows that the Modi government is scared of criticism," tweeted KC Venugopal, general secretary of the opposition Congress party. The second portion of the two-part documentary examined "the track record of Narendra Modi's government following his re-election in 2019," according to the program's description on the BBC website.
"We offered the Indian Government a right to reply to the matters raised in the series — it declined to respond," the statement said. Human Rights Watch said earlier that the banning of the documentary reflects a broader crackdown on minorities under the Modi government, which the rights group said has frequently invoked draconian laws to muzzle criticism.
Press freedom in India has been on a steady decline in recent years. The country fell eight places, to 150 out of 180 countries, in the 2022 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
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