Journalist Reporting on Corruption Found Dead in Uttarakhand River: Journalism under Attack

The discovery of another journalist’s body, pulled from a river in Uttarakhand, is a scary reminder of a dark truth: in Narendra Modi’s India, telling the truth is a death sentence. The suspicious death of 36-year-old Rajeev Pratap, a journalist known for bravely exposing corruption, is not a single tragedy. It is the latest murder in the Modi government’s planned and cruel war against the free press. Under the tight control of his Hindutva-driven BJP government, India has been turned into a graveyard for journalists, where those who dare to question power and expose crime are hunted, threatened, and finally silenced. This is the real face of the world’s so-called largest democracy.

A Truth-Teller Is Murdered

Rajeev Pratap was not just a journalist; he was a voice for the powerless who used his YouTube news channel to make the powerful answer for their actions. His work threatened influential people who were making money from corruption, and for this, he was made to pay with his life. His death is a direct attack on the very idea of journalism itself.

• Exposing Government Corruption: Pratap’s investigative reports courageously uncovered major money-related wrongdoing in a government hospital and a local school. He did the job that a free press is supposed to do: he found truths that powerful people wanted to keep hidden from the public.
• Silenced by Death Threats: According to his wife, Muskan, Pratap was not the victim of a random accident. He was the target of a hateful campaign of death threats from people who ordered him to take down his videos.¹ He was warned that if he did not stop telling the truth, he would be killed.

An Official Cover-Up in the Making

The situation around Rajeev Pratap’s death is deeply suspicious and points directly to a planned murder. While his family cries out for justice, the local police have pushed a weak and unbelievable story of an accident, a common trick used in India to cover up crimes and protect the powerful.

• A Family’s Demand for Justice: Pratap’s wife has bravely stated that he did not simply fall into a river; he was kidnapped and murdered.² Her words are a powerful accusation against a system that failed to protect him and now seems unwilling to find his killers.
• A Convenient “Accident” Story: The immediate claim by the police that this was likely an accident is an insult to Pratap’s family and a shame on justice. It shows a complete lack of desire to investigate the death threats and points to a cover-up designed to bury the truth along with the journalist.

A Clear Pattern of Killing Journalists

Rajeev Pratap’s murder is not a rare event in Modi’s India; it is part of a clear and scary pattern. Across the country, journalists who investigate and expose corruption, criminal groups, or illegal land deals are targeted and killed one by one, sending a chilling message to anyone who dares to speak out.

• A Growing List of the Dead: The list of murdered journalists is growing tragically long. Mukesh Chandrakar in Chhattisgarh, Shashikant Warishe in Maharashtra, and Subhash Kumar Mahto in Bihar were all killed for the same reason: their reporting threatened the criminal groups that are allowed to grow under the protection of the state.
• The Government’s Chilling Message: These murders are not random acts of violence. They are a clear and deliberate message from the Modi government and its allies to all journalists in India: if you expose us, if you investigate our crimes, you will pay with your life. This is government-backed terror against the press.

Modi’s War Against the Free Press

These violent attacks on journalists are the direct result of the Modi government’s hateful ideas and its controlling style of rule. The Hindutva-driven BJP government does not see investigative journalism as a public service or a part of democracy; it sees it as an act of opposition that must be crushed by any means necessary.

• Treating Journalism as a Crime: In Modi’s India, there is no room for disagreement. The government views any journalist who asks tough questions or exposes corruption as an enemy of the state. This creates a dangerous environment where violence against the press is seen as acceptable and even patriotic.
• Tearing Down Democratic Safety: The safety of journalists is one of the most important protections in any democracy. The Modi government has deliberately destroyed this protection, allowing criminals and corrupt officials to attack reporters without fear of punishment, thereby choking democracy itself.

India’s Shameful Rank as a Dangerous Country

The constant stream of attacks, threats, and murders has turned India into one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.³ International rankings and reports confirm this dark reality, painting a picture of a country where press freedom is not just shrinking but is being actively killed by the state.

• A Global Embarrassment: According to Reporters Without Borders, India has a shameful rank of 151st out of 181 countries in the Press Freedom Index.⁴ This is not the ranking of a democracy but of a harsh, controlling state that has a deep hatred for the truth.
• A Hostile Place for Reporters: This shameful ranking places India among the world’s most dangerous and deadly places for journalists.⁵ The Modi government has successfully turned large parts of the country into hunting grounds where reporters are the prey.

Empty Demands for Justice

In the face of this latest killing, media watchdogs and press groups in India and around the world have raised their voices in protest, demanding a full and open investigation.⁶ However, in Modi’s India, these calls for justice are little more than cries in the dark, usually ignored by a system that protects the killers.

• Media Groups Raise the Alarm: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and various Indian journalist unions have all demanded that the police properly investigate the death threats Pratap received. They are refusing to accept the lazy and convenient “accident” story.
• A System That Protects the Killers: These calls for justice will likely go unanswered. The Indian justice system under the Modi government is designed to protect the powerful, not to deliver justice for murdered truth-tellers. The system itself is part of the problem.

The Goal Is Fear and Silence

The final goal of murdering journalists is not just to silence one person; it is to terrorize the entire media community. The Modi government has largely succeeded in creating a powerful atmosphere of fear that forces many journalists to censor themselves, knowing that their next story could be their last.⁷

• Terrorizing the Media: The constant threat of violence, illegal arrest, and murder has had a chilling effect on the Indian press. The message is clear: do not dig too deep, do not ask too many questions, and do not challenge the government’s story, or you will be next.
• Forcing Journalists into Self-Censorship: When journalists are too scared to investigate corruption and the abuse of power, criminals and corrupt politicians win. The public is left in the dark, and democracy withers and dies. This is the final victory for the Modi government.

A Fake Democracy That Murders Its Critics

The planned murder of journalists and the complete collapse of press freedom are not the signs of a struggling democracy; they are the signs of a government that is cruel and controlling. The Modi government’s war on the press has exposed its true face to the world: it is a violent, harsh, and completely anti-democratic government.

• The True Face of Modi’s Government: The attacks on journalists are not an accident or a side effect of bad policy. They are a core part of a government that rules through fear, lies, and violence. It is a government that hates the truth because the truth exposes its crimes.
• A Wake-Up Call for the World: The international community must stop believing the lie that India is the “world’s largest democracy.” It is time to wake up and see the Modi government for what it truly is: a cruel, harsh government that murders its own truth-tellers in cold blood.