Facing death threats, Indian journalist Rana Ayyub says world must stand up for press freedom
Ayyub says criminal charges against her in India are intended to intimidate her
WARNING: This story includes descriptions of physical and sexual violence.
Journalist Rana Ayyub was boarding a plane to her native India recently, knowing she was returning to a place where her work has led to death threats, harassment and, now, criminal charges.
"There were a million thoughts that were going on in my head, but the most scary one was, 'Am I going back to a future that looks very dark?'" said Ayyub, an award-winning investigative journalist and columnist for the Washington Post.
"You don't know what happens to you once you get back into the country, right? Just that thought makes you so anxious," she told The Current's Matt Galloway.
Ayyub was charged in October under India's money laundering and tax fraud laws over accusations that she kept the equivalent of more than $440,000 Cdn in funds she helped to raise for victims of COVID-19. Last March, she was subjected to travel restrictions and stopped from boarding a flight to Europe, where she was scheduled to give talks on intimidation faced by journalists.
Ayyub denies any wrongdoing, and argues the charges are intended to intimidate her, prompted by her work criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power since 2014.
Her work has included critique of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the treatment of minorities within the country.
"The government does not like anyone who speaks the truth — unvarnished truth — that does not have the government's agenda in it," she said.
Last February, United Nations special rapporteurs called on India's government to halt "relentless misogynistic and sectarian attacks" against her.
Ayyub believes the fact she is a Muslim fuel some of those attacks.
"My identity is being made to attack me, and my work, saying 'She's a Muslim who's trying to attack a Hindu leader,'" she said.
The effect of the charges is that "instead of doing my reportage and my journalism, I'm drowning in paperwork," she added.
Ayyub has been working in the U.S., and returned home to appear in court in the coming weeks. She said several people close to her urged her not to go back, but that's "not something that I considered even for a moment."
"I wanted to be in the middle of my own people, and report on their stories and be a witness while being here," she said.
Threats of violence, rape
Ayyub's return to India was met with renewed online harassment and threats.
"This gentleman — who's not a bot, who has a profile picture with his child — has sent me a note that he is going to come to my house and cut me to pieces … for defaming India on an international level, for defaming Hindus on an international level," she said.
She's also faced multiple threats of rape, had false rumours spread about her family, and had her image digitally inserted into a pornographic video, which was shared on social media.
Ayyub said that when the BJP was asked to comment on the video by a local news outlet, the government spokesperson's response was "if you get out in the rains, you should be prepared to get wet."
The Current contacted the High Commission of India in Ottawa for comment, as well as India's Ministry of External Affairs, but did not receive a response.
In 2022, the World Press Freedom Index rated India 150th out of 180 countries, falling eight places. The report, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), cited "violence against journalists, the politically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership" as evidence that "press freedom is in crisis in 'the world's largest democracy.'"
The country has fallen 19 places in the ranking in the last decade. Last year, Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo was prevented from leaving the country to receive the Pulitzer Prize. In 2019, British Indian journalist Aatish Taseer was stripped of his Indian overseas citizenship after he wrote an article in Time magazine criticizing Modi's leadership.
Ayyub said that large media organizations have not held the government to account. That adds to the pressure felt by smaller outlets or independent journalists, and leaves the public reliant on things like Whatsapp messages that are forwarded many times — without a way to know where the information originated — and "agenda-driven stories" on social media.
"A majority of Indian citizens are either consuming fake news or prejudiced news, which makes us look like … we are the enemies of the state," she said.
'Death by a thousand cuts'
Ayyub worries that attacks on press freedom in a democracy as large as India's could have "ripples across the world."
"Dictators learn from each other, fascists learn from each other," she said.
In its 2022 report, RSF found "very bad" press freedom violations in 28 of the 180 countries analyzed. Only eight countries received a rating of "good."
Filipino journalist Maria Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for her defence of freedom of expression. She has likened the attacks on press freedom globally to "death by a thousand cuts" — something Ayyub agrees with.
"We are asked to persevere. We are asked to be strong," Ayyub said.
But while her supporters call her a hero, Ayyub doesn't want what she faces to be normalized for other journalists.
"I don't want journalists to be called brave for doing their bare minimum. None of us have to be brave for doing our work," she said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Audio produced by Ben Jamieson and Joana Draghici.
