The phone call from the official of the Ministry of External Affairs also raised the podcast about Modi.
Weeks later, as the Australian government worked behind the scenes, India's Press Information Bureau told the ABC it would not be granted electoral accreditation because of a direct order from Foreign Affairs .
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigning in Chennai, India.Credit: AP
Journalists in India say they are increasingly subject to state intimidation, or worse. Some have been imprisoned. Others have been stripped of their status as foreign citizens of India, a scheme that allows foreigners of Indian origin or with an Indian spouse to come and go easily.
However, such extreme cases involving Western organizations with journalists based in the country are extremely rare.
Critics accuse the government of enforcing an authoritarian brand of Hindu nationalism and using state institutions to silence dissent, including the jailing this year of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Weeks after the BBC aired a documentary about Modi's actions as Gujarat chief minister during deadly sectarian riots in 2002, tax authorities raided the broadcaster's Indian offices.
The Modi administration stresses that its agencies are always independent.
The Foreign Correspondent The piece explored the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, which authorities there blamed on agents of the Indian state. Filming took the crew to Nijjar's family home in India and to several activists still agitating for an independent Sikh nation called Khalistan. The issues, the personal history of Khalistan and Nijjar, are extremely sensitive to the Indian government.
Journalists were questioned in Punjab by the Criminal Intelligence Department and, despite prior approval, were prevented from filming a public event on the India-Pakistan border.
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After the show aired, the Indian government used its laws to force YouTube and other social media sites to delete this episode, and a separate news package featuring Australian Sikh activists, from their Indian platforms.
The phone call from the ministry came soon after. As well as crossing the uncrossable line of Sikh separatism, the ABC was told the episode breached foreign journalist visa rules because it ran for 30 minutes. The authorities therefore considered it to be a documentary, which had different visa requirements.
Dias and other reporters have previously reported without problems.
The ABC said it stood by Dias' journalism, which was “thoroughly researched and balanced.”
The Foreign Office and Penny Wong's office have been contacted for comment.
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