美国国家公共电台 NPR--Tax authorities in India raid the BBC weeks after it aired critical Modi documentary

Tax authorities in India raid the BBC weeks after it aired critical Modi documentary

Transcript¹

The raids on local offices of the BBC continue for a second day, weeks after it released a documentary critical of Prime Minister Modi. The move again raised concerns about press freedom.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

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. The raids that continue for a second day have raised concerns about press freedom in a country that's been touted² as the world's largest democracy. From Delhi, Shalu Yadav has this report.

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UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #1: Big story we are breaking at this hour. The BBC office in Delhi has been raided by the...

SHALU YADAV, BYLINE³: Tuesday morning started on an anxious note for BBC News staff in India. Income tax officials suddenly turned up at their offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #2: Up there at the fifth floor - what we have been told. I'm reporting, again, let me tell you, from the (inaudible)...

YADAV: And the British broadcaster became the center of the news here. The raids come just weeks after the BBC aired a two-part documentary in the U.K. which highlighted the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the anti-Muslim violence in the state of Gujarat in 2002. Modi was then the chief minister of the state. Responding to the raid, a spokesperson for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party - or the BJP - Gaurav Bhatia, accused the BBC of smearing⁴ India and called it, quote, "the world's most corrupt⁵ and rubbish corporation."

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GAURAV BHATIA: There is a reporting that was done by the BBC. In a program, they unleashed⁶ the most venomous attack against our country.

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. But there has been a fallout. BBC journalists working in India say they are alarmed by the raid. One of them told NPR that the tax officials took his and his colleagues' phones away and asked them to leave their working station. We're not using his name and are using a voice actor because he's not authorized⁷ to speak to the media, and he worries about retribution.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Through voice actor) The officials were searching for some keywords in the employees' computers. Our work was hampered⁸. The mood in the office was grim while the search lasted.

YADAV: In a statement, the BBC said it was supporting its staff during this time and that its output continues as normal. Critics say the raid adds further evidence to India's checkered⁹ record on press freedom, which now ranks 150 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. Amnesty International, which pulled out of India in 2020, says tax raids on the BBC are, quote, "an affront¹⁰ to free speech."

JYOTI MALHOTRA: What they're saying is that you better fall in line. And what really shocks me is that, actually, Prime Minister Modi has a huge reputation globally. He is the leader of the world's largest democracy.

YADAV: Jyoti Malhotra, a senior journalist and a media critic in Delhi, says that the government's move might have the opposite effect than work in Modi's favor.

MALHOTRA: For the government to show that it's doing this at a time when the government wants to project India's image abroad as being one of a vibrant¹¹ democracy, I think this is just going to have absolutely the opposite effect, and it shows a certain insecurity in asserting brittleness¹² on the part of the government.

YADAV: But for now, the message is clear. India's trouble with media that has continued under the Modi government wouldn't spare even one of the world's most influential¹³ broadcasters.

For NPR News, I'm Shalu Yadav in Delhi.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 smearing   

污点，拖尾效应

参考例句：

• The small boy spoilt the picture by smearing it with ink. 那孩子往画上抹墨水把画给毁了。
• Remove the screen carefully so as to avoid smearing the paste print. 小心的移开丝网，以避免它弄脏膏印。

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

8 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

9 checkered   

adj.有方格图案的

参考例句：

• The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。
• He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。

10 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

11 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

12 brittleness   

n.脆性，脆度，脆弱性

参考例句：

• Brittleness is often a result of alloying. 脆性往往是合金化的一种结果。 来自辞典例句
• The mechanism of brittleness of the alloy has been discussed. 对硬质含金脆性机理进行了探讨。 来自互联网

13 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。