Journalist Avani Dias Was Reportedly Told She Had ‘Crossed a Line’

Newsreel Asia Insight #201
April 24, 2024

Avani Dias, the South Asia bureau chief for ABC News, has left India saying she was finding it “too difficult to do my job.” Her decision came in the wake of a denied visa extension and alleged restrictions imposed on her reporting by the Indian government.

Dias was notified of the visa denial via a phone call from an official at the Ministry of External Affairs, indicating that a recent episode of her Foreign Correspondent program had “crossed a line,” according to ABC News.

The episode examined the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, an incident that spurred an international controversy after Canadian authorities accused Indian government agents of involvement. The Indian government had the episode and a related news story blocked on YouTube in India.

The denial of the visa extension led to weeks of lobbying by Australian diplomats and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong’s office, according to the Australian newspaper, which said, eventually, the Indian government relented, granting Dias a two-month visa renewal. However, this decision came less than 24 hours before she was scheduled to leave the country, the newspaper added.

In her podcast, Dias described the difficulties she faced while working in India. “It felt too difficult to do my job in India… The government wouldn’t even give me the passes I needed to cover the election, and the ministry left it all so late, that we were already packed up and ready to go.” she said. “It’s by design,” she added, alleging that the government had made her feel “so uncomfortable that we decided to leave.”

The journalist’s departure has occurred in the lead-up to India’s general election, which began on April 19.

Dias’ troubles were compounded by the accusation that she breached her visa by creating a “documentary.” This came as a surprise, as she and other ABC journalists had previously produced 30-minute segments without issue, according to the newspaper, which pointed out that similar-length current affairs programs are made by other outlets under the same visa.

Throughout her time in India, Dias and her crew faced pressure from Indian authorities, ABC News alleged, saying that during the investigation for her episode, they were questioned by Indian criminal intelligence officials and barred from filming at a public event in Punjab. Despite these challenges, ABC managing director David Anderson affirmed his support for Dias, stating, “The ABC fully backs and stands by the important and impactful reporting by Avani Dias during her time as ABC correspondent in India.”

Dias expressed a sense of unease in her podcast, remarking, “There’s always a feeling of unease that this sort of backlash could come your way as a journalist in India. I’ve felt it the whole time I’ve been here. So have my colleagues from different publications.”

The newspaper quoted Reporters Without Borders as stating, “press freedom is in crisis” in India, with an average of three or four journalists killed each year in connection with their work.

According to ABC News, Dias will continue to cover the Indian election from Australia before joining the network’s Four Corners program.