New Delhi: In a hard-hitting interview to discuss police raids on 46 journalists in 50 houses and offices spread across five cities as well as to discuss allegations and charges raised against Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty of NewsClick, both of whom have been arrested under UAPA and sent to seven days remand, N. Ram, the former editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hindu, has said this is “vicious” and the government agencies involved are “caged parrots”.Ram agreed this was a “fishing expedition” and designed to “intimidate” journalists.Speaking specifically about the charge that NewsClick has received funding from Neville Roy Singham, who the Delhi police and Enforcement Directorate 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.He said he knows Singham and although Singham supports the Left, he is not a conduit for Chinese money or Chinese propaganda.Ram also said the New York Times story drawing connections between NewsClick and Singham was “lazy journalism” and “irresponsible”.Ram discussed in detail who Singham is and some of the creditable work he’s done for The Guardian, and how he’s made his money and how he seeks to use it for good causes.I will leave you to see this part of the interview so that you can hear Ram and his account of Singham for yourself. I do not want to paraphrase or precis and convey the wrong impression. However, this is a critical part of the interview, because the character of and allegations against Singham lie at the very heart or root of the charges against NewsClick.Ram also discusses three other allegations made against NewsClick. As reported by his paper, The Hindu, they are “to create disaffection amongst various sections of society”; second, “to show Kashmir and Arunachal as not part of India”; and, third, a charge mentioned by The Indian Express, friendship with Gautam Navlakha and the fact he’s a shareholder in NewsClick.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. His own paper, The Hindu, in a leader today says: “Today, history seems to be repeating itself, but without even a fig leaf of a declared Emergency.”Finally, Ram 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.