Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scathing about the ‘dark days’ of emergency declared by Indira Gandhi. However, the Bharatiya Janta Party should know that suppression of independent thinking, dissidence and protest in the spheres of politics, culture, academics, religion and the media is tantamount to having the same pernicious effect. Political leaders are arrested even if they join popular protest, some as prominent as Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi. The BJP’s technique is obvious. Journalism is its major victim. Photographers at a Diwali meeting were highly criticized as they clicked selfies around the Prime Minister. The government no doubt hacked journalistic freedom by doing so. It may however be said that such action may not be healthy journalism. But the government also frowns upon questioning and heckling.
The BJP obviously believes in the principle that what is to be denounced about the opposition is all right for it. Narendra Modi warned against the evils of emergency. But a day after he said all this, the government shut down a popular Hindi TV news channel. It was argued that the channel threatened national security by giving out what was considered sensitive data during the militant attack on the Pathankot air base in January. The government action against the channel militates against democratic values. What is surprising is that the authorities took so long to take the decision. It is conceivable that the real reason is that the channel did not toe the official line. The ruling party is imposing repeated media bans in Kashmir. It has now extended it nationally. The press has to prove that it cannot be whipped.
