In what appears to be an example of an unofficial gag order from the Modi government, Indian journalist Rana Ayyub was prevented from addressing a public gathering in Doha on October 22 by the Indian embassy in Qatar. Ayyub is the author of the recently released book, Gujarat Files – Anatomy of a Cover Up, which indicts many top officials and politicians, including BJP’s current party president Amit Shah, for the role they played in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots.

Ayyub, who was invited to be the chief speaker at an event organised by the Indian Association of Bihar and Jharkhand (IABJ) in Doha, Qatar, was told by the organisers that they were instructed to either cancel the event or drop her from the list of speakers. Along with Ayyub, Kashif-Ul-Huda, founder of the news website twocircles.net, was also supposed to speak at the same event that was planned as a commemorative programme celebrating the 85th birth anniversary of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.