I know Roy Singham and he's not a conduit for Chinese money: N Ram to Karan Thapar

New Delhi: Amid the government action against NewsClick for allegedly spreading pro-China propaganda with Chinese funding through Neville Roy Singham, N Ram, the former Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Hindu, Thursday said he knows Singham and although Singham supports the Left he is not a conduit for Chinese money or Chinese propaganda.

Speaking specifically about the charge that NewsClick has received funding from Neville Roy Singham, who the Delhi police and ED claim is a conduit for Chinese money to be used to subvert and threaten India’s national security, Ram bluntly and forcefully rebutted the allegations.

In an interview with Karan Thapar, Ram also said The New York Times story drawing connections between NewsClick and Singham was “lazy journalism” and “irresponsible”.

Talking about some of the creditable work Singham has done for The Guardian, Ram suggested Singham seeks to use his money for good causes.

Ram said up till now he’s been reluctant and hesitant to claim that the treatment of journalists by the Modi government resembles the Emergency. But now, he says, that looks like the case. 

Ram also said it’s sad and very regrettable that no editor of any major newspaper or major news channel was present at the protest at the Press Club of India yesterday. 

He recalled how even Ramnath Goenka in the late ’80s had marched with journalists in protest against actions proposed by the Rajiv Gandhi government. Today, Ram said ruefully, we have a different generation of journalists.

Watch the full interview here: