In an open letter sent on 19 November 2025, to the Navi Mumbai police commissioner, ten NGOs — including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — called for an official police investigation into the death threats received by Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub as well as immediate protection for the journalist and her family.
A series of threatening text messages, voice notes and video calls. This is what Rana Ayyub has been subjected to since 2 November 2025. An unidentified man, who presented himself as a Canadian resident, threatened to kill the journalist and her father at their home if she did not write an article in the Washington Post about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. These explicit death threats are extremely serious, particularly as the author specified that he knew both the journalist’s address in Navi Mumbai and the location of her father, who was away visiting a village, information that was not in the public domain, as Rana Ayyub explained in her complaint filed at the Koparkhairane police station.
For several years, Rana Ayyub has been subjected to recurrent harassment, online hate campaigns, and abusive legal proceedings. In November 2024, she was targeted by an online harassment campaign and “doxxing” (disclosure of her personal information online without her consent).
“The recent death threats against Rana Ayyub and her father mark a significant escalation in a long-standing campaign of harassment against this seasoned journalist. Together with nine other NGOs, RSF calls on the Navi Mumbai police forces to open a criminal investigation in order to identify and prosecute the perpetrator of these despicable threats and to provide solid protection for Rana Ayyub and her family. Failure to do so would send a dangerous signal to those who seek to intimidate the press, and women journalists in particular.”
Célia Mercier
Head of the RSF South Asia Desk
In their open letter to the Navi Mumbai police commissioner, RSF and the coalition of NGOs express their deep concern about the escalating threats faced by veteran journalist and Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub and her father, and call on the police to take measures to keep them safe. The NGOs call on the Navi Mumbai police forces to:
- Convert the current non-cognizable report into a cognizable offence and open a formal police investigation under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act;
- Provide immediate and effective protection to Ms. Ayyub and her family, including physical security and digital safety support;
- Coordinate with cybercrime and telecommunications authorities to identify and prosecute the individuals or networks behind these threats; and
- Publicly reaffirm law enforcement’s commitment to the safety of journalists and to upholding India’s constitutional guarantees of press freedom.
The organizations signing this open letter are: Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), International Press Institute (IPI), International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), PEN America, PEN Canada, PEN International, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Women Press Freedom and the Coalition For Women In Journalism.
Rana Ayyub, target of repeated threats and harassment
This latest episode compounds earlier acts of harassment. In November 2024, Rana Ayyub’s personal phone number was leaked on social media, after which she endured hundreds of harassing calls and messages. She filed a complaint but to date, she has not been informed about any progress in that investigation. The recurrence of these threats, now extending to her father, demonstrates a pattern of intimidation that jeopardizes both her safety and the broader climate for independent journalism in India.
The article was published in the rsf
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