He is the leader of the world's largest democracy. And what really shocks me is that, actually, Prime Minister Modi has a huge reputation globally. JYOTI MALHOTRA: What they're saying is that you better fall in line. Amnesty International, which pulled out of India in 2020, says tax raids on the BBC are, quote, "an affront to free speech." Critics say the raid adds further evidence to India's checkered record on press freedom, which now ranks 150 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. YADAV: In a statement, the BBC said it was supporting its staff during this time and that its output continues as normal. The mood in the office was grim while the search lasted. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Through voice actor) The officials were searching for some keywords in the employees' computers. We're not using his name and are using a voice actor because he's not authorized to speak to the media, and he worries about retribution. One of them told NPR that the tax officials took his and his colleagues' phones away and asked them to leave their working station. BBC journalists working in India say they are alarmed by the raid. YADAV: The BBC said the film was rigorously researched, and a wide range of voices were included in the documentary, including those from the BJP. In a program, they unleashed the most venomous attack against our country. GAURAV BHATIA: There is a reporting that was done by the BBC. Responding to the raid, a spokesperson for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party - or the BJP - Gaurav Bhatia, accused the BBC of smearing India and called it, quote, "the world's most corrupt and rubbish corporation." Modi was then the chief minister of the state. which highlighted the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the anti-Muslim violence in the state of Gujarat in 2002. The raids come just weeks after the BBC aired a two-part documentary in the U.K. YADAV: And the British broadcaster became the center of the news here. I'm reporting, again, let me tell you, from the (inaudible). UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #2: Up there at the fifth floor - what we have been told. Income tax officials suddenly turned up at their offices in Delhi and Mumbai. SHALU YADAV, BYLINE: Tuesday morning started on an anxious note for BBC News staff in India. The BBC office in Delhi has been raided by the. UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #1: Big story we are breaking at this hour. The raids that continue for a second day have raised concerns about press freedom in a country that's been touted as the world's largest democracy. Less than a month after the BBC released a documentary critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tax authorities raided the British broadcaster's offices in Mumbai and Delhi.
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