A warning shot for committing the ‘crime’ of journalism

General Studies Paper 3

Context:

• Recently, the central government has been criticised for taking steps to ‘muzzle the media’, from the raids on the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai following the broadcast of a documentary critical of the prime minister to the recent lodging of cases under UAPA law against newsclick portal.

A warning shot

• If a global giant could be so brazenly smothered by the ‘Mother of Democracy’ strutting around in her G20 baubles, the fate that has befallen tiny newsclick should not surprise too many.
• “Show me the man and i’ll show you the crime,” was the boast attributed to Joseph Stalin’s ruthless secret police chief, i.e., he could fabricate a case against anyone, even the innocent. Taking a leaf from the Bolshevik’s book, Indian government in recent years has conducted raids and/or arrests on journalists/ establishments on the grounds of-
• Money laundering (newsclick, NDTV)
• Income tax evasion (BBC, Dainik Bhaskar)
• National security (mediaone)
• Glorifying terrorism (Fahad Shah)
• Disrupting peace/ public order (Siddique Kappan) etc.

L’affaire NewsClick

• It is a particularly egregious case — the police landing up without a copy of the FIR or a list of the offences committed. Seizing the phones and laptops of the “suspects” against the instructions of the judiciary. A case of economic offence turning into a conspiracy to undermine the republic.
• So many questions can be asked, but just one is enough: exactly whose activity is “unlawful” here, the second estate’s, or the fourth? It reveals a perverse mindset which is so used to unfiltered propaganda that it sees ear to the ground journalism not as a public service, but as an avoidable hindrance. And it ticks all the boxes of media capture — harassment, intimidation, vendetta, vilification.
• “In furtherance of this conspiracy to disrupt the sovereignty of India and to cause disaffection against India, large amount of funds were routed from China in a camouflaged manner and paid news were intentionally peddled criticising domestic policies, development projects of India and promoting, projecting and defending policies and programmes of the Chinese government,” reads the FIR, with scant understanding of what “paid news” is, oblivious of the Reserve Bank of India- mandated 26% limit on foreign funding of digital platforms, and mocking the ₹49 crore that Chinese companies donated after COVID19, including to the PM CARES fund.

Contempt bordering on hatred

• During Emergency, censorship was so stringent that nothing could be published without approval.” The bottomless thirst for approval and approbation — and the limitless allergy for scrutiny and criticism — that the retrofitted witch hunt against NewsClick highlights, offers a useful chance for a hypnotised citizenry to pause and ponder: why is a government, which spends thousands of crores to promote itself through the media, so intent to crush the outliers, bringing disrepute in the eyes of the world?
• And why is a government which periodically issues self attested certificates of India’s growing prowess so uninterested in improving its ranking on the World Press Freedom index, where it now stands below Taliban-run Afghanistan, at 161 out of 180 countries? (In 2014, it was at 140; in 2022, it was at 150.)

Conclusion:

• The government must strike a balance between concerns on national security, money laundering etc on one hand and free speech of the press on the other hand.