French journalists labelled spies over Indian sand mining investigation
Source: The Guardian
French journalists labelled spies over Indian mining investigation
Arthur Bouvart and Jules Giraudat took up assignment after Indian journalists threatened
Michael Safi in Delhi
Wed 5 Dec 2018 14.42 GMT
Two French journalists have been labelled spies and are the subject of a criminal investigation after they tried to report on sand mining in south India – an assignment they took up because Indian journalists had been threatened for reporting on the issue.
Arthur Bouvart and Jules Giraudat arrived in Tamil Nadu state in November to investigate the environmental impact of mining sand, a resource that has become scarce and increasingly lucrative amid a decades-long Asian construction boom.
The journalists, who were in India on tourist visas, work for Forbidden Stories, which pursues investigations other reporters have been killed, jailed or threatened over.
Tamil Nadu has allegedly been the site of rampant illegal extraction of sand and other beach minerals, which activists estimate could have cost the state exchequer at least $300m (£235m) in lost revenues.
Indian journalist Sandhya Ravishankar says she was stalked and harassed last year after publishing a series of investigative reports into the industry, which she alleged was allowed to operate illegally by colluding with state and federal officials.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/05/french-journalists-labelled-spies-india-sand-mining-assignment