‘PM has reached heights of dictatorship’: Opposition hits out at Modi govt for targeting BBC

News Network
February 14, 2023

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New Delhi, Feb 14: In what is widely seen as a retaliation by the BJP government for a documentary that is critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Income Tax Department on Tuesday conducted a "survey operation" at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in the national capital and Mumbai, as part of a tax evasion investigation.

The action immediately attracted condemnation from the Opposition, calling it an "undeclared emergency" and that the Modi government was "scared" of criticism.

The BBC said it was "fully cooperating" with the Income Tax Department and "hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible".

Officials said the department is looking at documents related to the business operations of the company and those related to its Indian arm. The survey operations under the I-T Department means that it only covers the business premises and not raid residences or other locations of promoters and other functionaries.

Sources said around two dozen tax department officials were part of the team that conducted searches at the BBC office in Delhi while in Mumbai, BBC studios were searched. Documents and laptops were learnt to have been seized by tax officials.

The BBC was facing the ire of the BJP government and the Sangh Parivar over its two-part documentary series 'India: The Modi Question', which was critical of Modi's handling of Gujarat riots in 2002 when he was the Chief Minister of the state. The government had invoked emergency powers under the Information Technology Rules, 2021 to block YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.

The I-T Department's action also came a day after the first leg of the Budget Session of Parliament concluded, which was read as an attempt by the government to ensure that the Opposition does not get an immediate chance to raise the issue. The Supreme Court had earlier this month refused to ban the documentary, describing the petition as "entirely misconceived".

Congress targeted the government with its General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh saying, "Vinash Kale, Vipreet Buddhi" (When doom approaches, a person's intellect works against his interest)."

"Here we are demanding JPC on the Adani issue but the government is after the BBC," Ramesh said while Congress tweeted from its official handle, "first came the BBC interview and it was banned. Now Income Tax raids at BBC offices. Undeclared emergency."

Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said the action against the BBC showed that the Modi government is scared of criticism. "We condemn these intimidation tactics in the harshest terms. This undemocratic and dictatorial attitude cannot go on any longer," he said.

Trinamool Congress MP Mohua Moitra tweeted, "wow, really? How unexpected."

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav called the action against BBC as the beginning of "ideological emergency". "When a government stands for fear and oppression instead of fearlessness, then one should realise the end is near,” he tweeted. 

PM has reached heights of dictatorship: AAP 

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party slammed the Centre over the Income Tax survey operation at the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached the "heights of dictatorship".

The I-T department conducted the operation earlier in the day as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, according to officials.

The surprise action comes weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary, "India: The Modi Question" even as the Centre blocked access to this series at multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing any links.

"Modi ji, you have reached the heights of dictatorship," said AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is also the party's national spokesperson, in a tweet in Hindi, reacting sharply to the survey.

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News Network
November 21,2025

Bantwal: A domestic dispute appears to have led to a violent confrontation in BC Road area, where the owner of a textile shop was allegedly attacked with a knife by his wife on Wednesday evening.

Krishna Kumar Somayaji, the owner of Somayaji Textiles, sustained serious injuries in the incident and was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment. He is currently receiving care in the intensive care unit and is reported to have survived the assault, according to police.

The Bantwal Town police have registered a case against Somayaji's wife, Jyothi KT, who has since been taken into custody.

Police stated that the complainant, Namita, an employee at the shop, reported the sequence of events. She stated that around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the suspect entered the shop, wearing a burqa and disguised as a customer, before attacking Somayaji with a knife. The employee then transported the injured owner to a local hospital via an autorickshaw.

Superintendent of Police Arun K confirmed that an ongoing domestic dispute between Somayaji and his wife reportedly preceded the attack. Police noted that Jyothi KT had previously visited the shop and issued threats.

Based on the complaint, Bantwal Town police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Indian Arms Act-1959. An investigation into the incident is currently underway.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israel has launched a new act of aggression on a residential neighborhood in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, killing and injuring about two dozen civilians.

The Israeli regime's military said in a statement that its forces carried out a so-called precise strike in a residential apartment in Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday.

The aggression targeted residential areas, killing at least five people and injuring more than 28 people, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four resistance fighters.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun condemned the airstrike, calling it a clear demonstration of Tel Aviv’s disregard for repeated international calls to halt violations on Lebanese soil.

“Israel refuses to implement international resolutions and all efforts aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability,” Aoun said, urging the international community to take action to prevent further aggression.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also condemned the attack, holding the international community accountable. 

“The international community bears responsibility and continues to provide cover for these attacks as long as it does not restrain the occupiers,” said Ali Abu Shahin, a member of the group’s political bureau.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli army carried out a strike “in the heart of Beirut."

Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation following recommendations from top Israeli security officials.

Two senior US officials commented on the Israeli strike.

The first official said that Israel did not notify Americans in advance about the attack. "We were informed immediately after the strike was carried out."

The second senior official said that the "US knew for several days that Israel was planning to escalate its strikes in Lebanon, but did not know in advance the timing, location, or target of the strike."

Speaking from the site of the Israeli strike, Lebanese MP Ali Ammar condemned the attack as part of a broader campaign of aggression that has targeted "all of Lebanon since the Washington-sponsored ceasefire."

He stated that "any attack on Lebanon is a violation of red lines; this aggression is part and parcel of the entity that targets Lebanon's dignity, sovereignty, and security of citizens."

Ammar went on to say the resistance is responding with "utmost wisdom, patience, and will confront the enemy at the appropriate time."

"Unfortunately, the enemy is emboldened to commit its aggression by voices within Lebanon that have turned themselves into tools that support its aggression," he added.

The Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is the latest blatant violation of the ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah in November 2024, which was intended to end hostilities that had escalated into full-scale war.

An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least 14 people. It wounded several others, including young students, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The military claimed the attack targeted “a Hamas training compound” used to plan and carry out attacks against the regime -- a claim that has frequently been made without evidence.

Hamas rejected the allegations as “a blatant lie aimed at justifying the massacre,” stating it had “no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon” and that the targeted site was merely “an open sports field.”

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 4,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million residents across the country since October 2023.

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