Simultaneous raids by the IT department at the offices of Dainik Bhaskar Group across the country that publishes the widely circulated Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar for alleged tax evasion on Thursday can’t be categorised as unexpected or something like a bolt from the blue. Sooner or later this was to happen, those acquainted with the character of the Indian media of today nurture this belief which has been proved right and it’s interesting to note how the concept of ‘chronology’ has once again been put into practice with elan.

It needs no re-narrating how Dainik Bhaskar has earned reverence not just from millions of readers across the country but from global media also for their fearless and investigative reporting that for the first time made people aware about the true gravity of India’s Covid situation. When most of the English language dailies of mainstream media, including the big names refrained from treading the ‘path’, the Hindi daily was a rare exception. It’s for the first time in the history of journalism in India that an editor of a vernacular daily was requested to write an opinion piece in New York Times. Titled “The Ganges is returning the dead. It does not lie” that mirrored the monumental failure of the nation in handling Covid 2.0 written by DB’s national editor has been read by millions across the world. Meanwhile, with its characteristic zeal to pursue truths, the daily picked up the Pegasus issue, describing it as an “earthquake in the politics of the country.” The innings started with the same in-depth reportage supplemented by explainers for an easy understanding of the common reader of a matter that’s technical to a good extent. Herein, as that is now alleged, the term ‘chronology’ with the meaning it carries these days had its application and to make sure that readers are not ‘enlightened’ in the manner it had been while going through the heartbreaking Covid stories, the ‘bumper’ has been placed. It’s a loud message also to those in the media who still suffer from the disease of idealism that some lines should never be crossed. A round-up of the history of raids during last few years will show that before DB, there have been many such. It’s essential to recall that as per 2021 World Press Freedom Index published by French NGO Reporters Without Borders last April, among 180 nations, India ranked 142. No prizes for guessing what the 2022 ranking is going to be after the DB episode and the Pegasus spyware revelation wherein the journalists of the country were at the frontline of targets.

It’s a matter of concern that freedom of press, which is entitled to enjoy the shade of the umbrella called Article 19 of the Constitution covering Freedom of Speech & Expression, a fundamental right, is being repeatedly compromised.