Reports suggest that twelve journalists in Kerala are on NIA radar, thanks to their suspected links with terror groups. Six Kerala journalists are already interrogated in the Kochi centre of NIA. The agency has collected evidence from their phones. These six people will be interrogated again. Some of them had worn the identity badges issued by their employers when they went to the NIA centre for interrogation. They had allegedly got in touch with the terrorists, who joined ISIS through telegram. NIA has reportedly found out that these people had active roles in controlling IS sleeper cells in the State and hence summoned for interrogation.
Scribes were initially not cooperative. But, when the investigation officers showed them the evidence, they kept mum. Twelve like-minded journalists are also under observation.
On top of this, NIA seeks information from some chartered accountants and police personnel. It is regarding money transactions of Popular Front of India (PFI) and similar outfits. Police personnel, who are in contact with some leaders of such organisations, also are highly likely to be interrogated. Some officers from NIA Hyderabad are expected to arrive in Kochi in this connection.
This is very much significant as journalists who have been enjoying excellent rapport with the terrorists and sleeper cells always raise the bogey of ‘freedom of press’ and ‘freedom of expression’, etc. Then working journalists’ unions beat the drums and malign the country in front of the international community that Bharat faces an ‘Undeclared Emergency’ and freedom of the press and expression are things of the past in the country.
Even the leaders of Congress, the party which clamped the Emergency in June 1975, jailed hundreds of thousands of activists, defiled the Constitution, ground and crushed the judiciary and freedom of the press under the boots, talk about the ‘undeclared Emergency under Modi regime’, sans any sort of shame! They pick up every piece of straw they come across for this sinister campaign.
