India: CFWIJ Condemns State Backed Harassment Of Rana Ayyub
Location: India, New Delhi
Date: February 14, 2022
Photo Credit: The New Yorker
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated a fiscal probe against journalist Rana Ayyub, alleging that she misused the donations collected for COVID-19 relief through the Indian crowdfunding platform, Ketto. On February 10, ED announced that it has launched an investigation into Rana Ayyub concerning INR 17.7 million worth of bank deposits. The agency issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach a Rs 50 lakh of fixed deposit and the rest, kept as bank deposits in two accounts of a private bank. Rana has since issued a statement defending herself against these allegations.
The investigation comes as a result of a police complaint filed in September 2021 with the Ghaziabad police in Uttar Pradesh by Vikas Sankrityayan, the founder of an NGO, “Hindu IT Cell”. According to the complaint, Rana has violated Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act regulations. Rana rejected the allegations stating, “…[M]y bank statements…demonstrate that I received no foreign donations, and in any event, all foreign donations received by Ketto were returned to the donors by Ketto.”
The ED told the Press Trust of India that “Funds totalling Rs 2,69,44,680 were raised on Ketto by Rana Ayyub. These funds were withdrawn in the bank accounts of her sister and father.”
Responding to this allegation, Rana clarifies that, “My personal bank account could not be used at that time as Ketto required the physical copy of my PAN card to be furnished immediately, which at that time was unavailable.”
According to Rana, this is the latest in a state backed attempt to harass and intimidate the journalist into silence. And this will not be the first time. The Hindu right wing in India has a history of threatening and maligning the journalist due to her outspoken views on the growing extremism in the country as well as her criticism of the current ruling party, the BJP.
“The smear campaign against me will not deter me from my professional commitment to continue to do my work as a journalist, and especially to raise critical issues and ask inconvenient questions, as is my duty as a journalist in a constitutional democracy. I am confident that the allegations levelled against me will not withstand any fair and honest scrutiny,” Rana says in her official statement.
My statementhttps://t.co/EgMfHXjoaT pic.twitter.com/tlxahJz94J
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) February 11, 2022
The Coalition For Women In Journalism has consistently covered the attacks and campaigns faced by Rana Ayyub and the insidious ways in which they find support from state offices. This is an extremely worrying trend and a threat to press freedoms in the country. We condemn this latest attempt to legally harass the journalist and demand these baseless allegations be withdrawn.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.