Journalist Rana Ayyub was stopped by immigration officials at Mumbai airport on Tuesday while she was on her way to board a flight to London. The officials stopped her on the basis of a Look-out circular issued by the Enforcement Directorate as she allegedly failed to comply with the agency’s summons. Ms. Ayyub, in a tweet, explained that she was stopped while she was going to board her flight to deliver a speech on the intimidation of journalists with International Center for Journalists. Posting a subsequent tweet, she said these events “have been planned and publicised all over my social media for weeks. Yet, curiously the Enforcement directorate summon arrived in my mail much after I was stopped at the immigration. What do you fear?”. The issue has put a spotlight on the deteriorating press freedom in India
- India ranked 142 among 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index
- In 2021, seven journalists were imprisoned in India, the highest in the last 3 decades
- Data show that journalists enjoy less freedom than citizens in the country
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