'Media is Fourth Pillar of Democracy': Kejriwal Attacks BJP After Income Tax Surveys BBC Offices

New Delhi: A day after the Income Tax department carried out survey operations at BBC's offices in India, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday (February 15, 2023) launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that media is the "fourth pillar of democracy".

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo said that suppressing the media's voice is akin to suppressing the voice of the public.

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"Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and an attack on its freedom is similar to suppressing the voice of the public. Whosoever speaks against the BJP, these people send CBI, ED, and I-T after them," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Does the BJP want to crush the country's democratic system and institutions and turn the entire country into its slave?" he added.

मीडिया लोकतंत्र का चौथा स्तम्भ है, मीडिया की स्वतंत्रता पर हमला जनता की आवाज़ दबाने के बराबर है। जो भी भाजपा के ख़िलाफ़ बोलता है उसके पीछे ये लोग IT, CBI और ED को छोड़ देते हैं।

क्या भाजपा देश की लोकतांत्रिक व्यवस्था और संस्थाओं को कुचलकर पूरे देश को अपना गुलाम बनाना चाहती है? — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 15, 2023

Earlier on Tuesday, the I-T department carried out a survey operation at the British broadcaster's offices in Delhi and Mumbai, a step they said was part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion.

The action, which sparked a sharp political debate with the ruling BJP accusing the BBC of "venomous reporting" and the opposition questioning the timing of the move, comes weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary "India: The Modi Question" on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Meanwhile, the survey operations at the BBC India offices continued for the second day on Wednesday with the sleuths said to be making copies of electronic and paper-based financial data of the organisation.