A prominent Indian journalist and activist says she has been barred from boarding a flight to London where she was scheduled to address an event on targeting of journalists in the world's largest democracy. Rana Ayyub, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government, was due to take the London flight on Tuesday and then to Italy to attend different events. The Washington-based non-profit, International Center for Journalists, had invited Ayyub to the UK for a discussion on online violence against women journalists. Ayyub Ayyub was stopped at Mumbai airport from boarding the flight because the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a lookout notice for her, The Hindu newspaper reported. The agency, controlled by the federal government, is investigating the 37-year-old Washington Post columnist for alleged money laundering and froze her bank account last month. The journalist, however, tweeted the Enforcement Directorate's summons "very curiously" reached her inbox only after she was stopped at Mumbai airport. "I was told I have to go back home," Ayyub told The Indian Express newspaper on Wednesday. "I was supposed to receive an award and also address the newsroom of the Guardian newspaper. My entire plan has been public all this while and I have always been in touch with ED." Ayyub said she had an event on April 1 with some of the top jurors, editors and diplomats in London. On the same day, she was to speak at The Guardian's office at the invitation of the newspaper's editor Katharine Viner. Then on April 6 and 7, she was to be in Italy to attend an event called the International Journalism Festival. "I had tweeted about all the events three weeks in advance," Ayyub said. Ayyub said that she had already submitted all relevant documents to the Enforcement Directorate. She said she had been issued a show-cause notice for which she had been given a month to reply. "Not a single summons from the ED, the last being the 1st week of January, was received by me till an hour before my flight today," Ayyub said. " In September, a Hindutva group called the Hindu IT Cell had filed a complaint against Ayyub alleging that she had illegally collected money through the crowdfunding platform Ketto "in the name of charity". The complaint alleged that the journalist had received foreign funds without government approval. Ayyub had described the allegations as "preposterous, wholly mala fide and belied by record". They are based on "an intentional misreading of her bank statements", the journalist said. The journalist added that she had received no foreign contributions as defined under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Kavinder Gupta, a politician belonging to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleged that "people (like Ayyub) take money from foreign agencies to create disturbances in the country. "It is important that all her connections are thoroughly investigated. The Enforcement Directorate is probing her and till the time the investigation has not reached its conclusion, she should not be allowed to leave the country," Gupta told Al Jazeera. ED officials did not respond to Al Jazeera's queries about the case against Ayyub. However, Ayyub has been told to appear on Friday for questioning in connection with the case, Indian media reports said. Ayyub, author of a book on the 2002 pogrom in Modi's home state of Gujarat, has been a victim of relentless attacks – including rape threats – by members of right-wing Hindu groups for her reports and columns, mainly on the persecution of Muslims in India. Last month, human rights experts at the United Nations urged the Indian authorities to investigate "relentless misogynistic and sectarian" attacks on social media against her. The Washington Post also issued a full-page advertisement in her support, saying "the free press is under attack in India." Journalists from across the world and media watchdogs have condemned India's actions and called on the authorities to allow the journalist to travel freely for her work. Julie Posetti, Global Director of Research at ICFJ and a leading expert on online violence against women journalists, was Ayyub's co-speaker at the London event. "Indian authorities are trying to criminalise Rana Ayyub's journalism practice," she told Al Jazeera. "They are now seeking to restrict her movement as well as her journalism and her press freedom advocacy as a direct response to her critical reporting of the Modi government and far-right Hindu nationalism." Posetti said the grounding of Ayyub is a "direct retaliatory attack on her rights to practice journalism and advocate for press freedom". She said the organizers are thinking about postponing the London event. "But we very much hope that the Indian authorities urgently reverse the spurious decision to prevent Rana Ayyub from traveling to the UK," she told Al Jazeera. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also said the travel restrictions were "the latest example of growing pressure against her". The money laundering case against Ayyub is based on a First Information Report or FIR filed by Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad Police in September, by a Vikas Sankrityayan - the founder of an NGO called "Hindu IT Cell" and a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad. — Agencies
