At the start of 2020, New Delhi was a tinderbox. A state election was scheduled for early February, crowds had gathered across India’s capital to protest against a controversial new citizenship law, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was organizing patriotic marches in response.

On January 27, government minister Anurag Thakur was addressing one such event in the capital, where he was filmed urging a mob to shoot “the country’s traitors.” A month later, the city was shaken by anti-Muslim riots that claimed at least 53 lives. The majority of victims were working class Muslims. But, when reporters pressed Thakur for comment, he accused them of “lying” — despite widely available video footage to the contrary.

Now, Thakur has the power to take down news reports that run against his ambiguous grasp of the truth. 

Over the weekend, he was made India’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting. The appointment came a month after the nation passed a new and draconian media censorship law that — if implemented in the way many fear it will be — will throttle India’s already embattled press.