The Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s recent ban on the television channels Asianet and Media TV One and the reversal of the ban 48 hours later unfortunately make us feel that the government is intolerant of any dissent or media reports critical of the establishment.
The I&B Ministry alleged that these two news channels had been biased in their reporting of the North-East Delhi riots, that they laid the blame on ‘one particular community’ and against the RSS. It was said these channels had been misleading the public with inaccuracies and sensational reporting. The government’s message was clear — the media had to be extremely sympathetic to the views of the establishment, promote those views, whitewash any crime by the ruling party’s personnel and promote a rosy picture of the scenario.
We find that the media have been crippled in today’s India. Dissent is suppressed, dissenting media’s premises and their owners’ properties are being raided by central agencies like the Income Tax Department (I-T), Enforcement Directorate (ED), probes launched against them by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) etc.
The ruling party spokespersons, workers, leaders and supporters are intimidating, coercing, threatening, vilifying, defaming, harassing and abusing journalists critical of the government and its policies. Many of these elements are given a free hand by the ruling party and no effort is being made to rein in them.
The worst part is that any journalist who tries to speak out against the government, against crimes like lynching, rapes, murders, encounters, etc are subjected to threats, legal and institutional harassment, severe trolling, verbal and physical attack, assault and humiliation.
It is unfortunate that the government is unable to handle any criticism and act upon it. It views any criticism as a threat to the integrity and sovereignty of the nation, anti-national, anti-majority and a ploy of the opposition to bring down the government. Sadly, the ruling establishment gives interviews mostly to pro-establishment journalists.
The recent Finance Ministry order of limiting the access of journalists to the Ministry raises a question: ‘Why is it not allowing even PIB-accredited journalists to have access to the same?’
The government has been very swift in demarcating journalists in three groups — one, pro-establishment journalists, second, anti-establishment journalists and third, journalists attempting to give a balanced view of every situation, though even some of them are leaning to either side of the political spectrum, while attempting to have a centrist position on everything.
The pro-establishment journalists are mollycoddled, their views are entertained and they are kept very close to the top leadership of the government and the ruling party. They have access to the leadership and all documents and archives at the drop of a hat.
The chemistry between the top leadership and these journalists is prominent and visible in the open- whether in public gatherings, press conferences, interviews and social media.
The anti-establishment journalists are kept at an arm’s length. Their views are dismissed as fallible and often against the interests of the nation and the people or too elite. The establishment is extremely contemptuous of them. The top leadership bars them from having access and entry to ministries, offices, party meetings, public meetings, press conferences, gatherings, etc. They are deprived of access to the leadership and all documents of various ministries and departments. In fact, this was manifested last year when the Attorney General of India alleged in the Supreme Court that the Rafale documents in the Ministry of Defence were accessed by The Hindu, which published comprehensive reports about them.
The journalists whom the government feels are neutral are given interviews and are treated reasonably well by the ruling party, though the latter remains perpetually cynical about them.
The government’s contempt for dissent, media, intellectuals and students has proven to be very unhealthy for the democracy in this country. The government’s portrayal of dissenters as Breaking India forces has indeed horrified the world. The mainstream media which refuses to document the violence against India’s most vulnerable sections under the government’s watch is naturally indulged, whereas the sections of the media that does ground reportage and reports their plight and critiques the government are usually at the receiving end. This does not brood well for us. We must wake up before it’s too late.
(Contributed by
Sauro Dasgupta,
Jadavpur University, Kolkata)