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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| The state of journalism in India today |
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| amatullah |
| 01/28/03 at 07:22:48 |
| The state of journalism in India today By Seema Mustafa Indian journalist Iftikhar Gilani was released, after seven long, agonizing months in jail. The fact that the system conspired to keep an innocent man in jail has elicited hardly any reaction from the worthies in the Indian government, with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee lapsing into silence after his Goa musings, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani saying something about the democratic system (!) and those who had conducted the tremendous investigation against “traitor, anti-national Gilani” suddenly disappearing from view. There has been no apology from the government. There has been no move to even offer monetary compensation to Gilani and his family for the trauma he and his family have undergone over these months. There has just been this strange kind of attempt by the deputy prime minister to speak about democracy that has set the journalist free. What about the system that took him in? And then worked assiduously to keep him in? What about those who knew he was innocent shortly after he was arrested, but insisted on keeping him in Tihar Jail with ordinary criminals and murder convicts to promote their respective agendas? For the official the goal might have been a promotion, a pat on the back for a job well done. For the politician the goal was to prove that journalist and Kashmiri Gilani could only function as an anti-national, and to terrorize other journalists through the flexing of the mighty muscle of state power. Neither of them was prepared to admit he was wrong, and both worked together to keep the journalist in jail in the hope that the system would not be able to get him out. Gilani has been released not because of any compassion or justice shown by the system, but despite of it. He had a support base that worked for his release. His family, and a few extremely loyal friends worked day and night to prove his innocence. Had that not been the case he would still have been in jail despite the fact that every single person in the government, involved in framing him, knew that he was innocent. On the day he was arrested Gilani said that the documents which had been flaunted by the Indian police as violative of the Official Secrets Act, and an indication of his proximity to Pakistan, were all on the Internet. No one was stopping to listen. Gilani’s friends pursued the matter diligently. And to cut the agonizing story short, he was finally released last week. But not before a murderous attack on him in jail where he was beaten up by convicts. And not before the government tried hard to ensure that all evidence proving Gilani’s innocence was challenged, and the courts prevailed upon to keep him in jail. Now, of course a pious deputy prime minister has a great deal to say about the working of democracy. Where was he when delegations of journalists and concerned citizens appealed to him at the onset to take a personal look at Gilani’s case, confirm his innocence and ensure his release? Did he ask for the documents? And if he did, was he not aware that the young journalist was innocent? And if he was not, was he misinformed? If he was misinformed by his officials, is he going to take action against them? The matter cannot rest with a vague statement about democracy that has been violated by the government. If democracy has to be strengthened then the government has to admit its gross mistake, pay compensation, apologize and take action against those found guilty of the conspiracy to keep journalist Gilani in jail. The onus is on the Indian government to prove that it still values democracy. That journalists and other citizens, regardless of their religious identities, their castes, their political affiliations, cannot be picked up from their homes on trumped up charges, and kept in jail while the system challenges their innocence. That is the least that a citizen, confronted with the blatant misuse of state power, can expect from his or her government. For, with all the draconian laws that the government has passed, and with all the power that it has, a citizen has no protection except the state itself. And when the state turns against its own people on grounds other than those clearly laid out in the Constitution of India, it is frightening for there are very few like Gilani who manage to emerge from the dark corridors of threat and oppression. Gilani said that he never thought he would be a free man. As the days rolled by, and despair overtook hope he was sure that he would not see his family and his friends ever again. He did, because in his case the misuse of power and the government machinery was so blatant and so crude that it could not be hidden for long under the persistent assault of his well-wishers who left no stone unturned to prove his innocence. Advani is right, Gilani was fortunate. Many others are probably languishing in jail without the means to prove their innocence. And many more will be convicted for crimes they did not commit in a ruthless system that plays out its politics through innocent citizens who are made to pay the price for their birth. There is no doubt that Gilani was selected to serve as a model for those journalists trying to do their job of informing the public honestly, without fear and favor. Propaganda for all governments has been extremely important, but the Indian government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party today can perhaps be credited with exercising the most widespread and successful control of journalists through the proverbial carrot and stick policy. The journalists have been clearly divided into two categories: One to be seduced and the other to be intimidated. The seduction takes many forms. It can be as simple as a smile from Advani or for that matter BJP spokesperson Arun Jaitley at the daily briefing in New Delhi. Don’t be surprised, there are many amongst Indian journalists who live for recognition from the establishment. It can be an invitation to select briefings, where the others are kept out. It can be a ride with the prime minister on a junket abroad. That is heady. It can be favors like a car, a flat, some money for a business, perhaps even finances to bail out a sinking newspaper. And in today’s environment, the carrot is also security. If you are with us, if you do not question us, if you toe the line you will be secure and well looked after. The truth is not important, support for us is important. And the favors will increase as you prove your loyalty, over and over again. Otherwise, remember Gilani. The message that has been sent out is loud and clear: He might be free today, but you might not be so fortunate. After all for a journalist to be locked up for seven months for possessing a paper that is on the Internet is a clear-cut indication to the others, that the arm of the law is mighty and innocence is highly relative. Is it not better to sit back and do what the system wants, rather than challenge it and place yourself at risk? Is it not better, then, to do what they want, after all it also takes you places, than to insist on reporting the truth and inviting action? Is it not better to do your job quietly, a press release here, a statement there rather than take the initiative to investigate the facts and inform the public? These are legitimate questions being asked by the journalists, for after all today there are rewards in sitting back and disinforming or not informing the public than in reporting the truth in all its stark detail. Those who answer these questions by selecting the second options are then subjected to a kind of pressure, that might not be time in jail as yet but definitely requires a certain courage to resist. Particularly by those reporting for the regional media where the pressures are more and the salary too meager to compensate. And also where the working environment itself is not secure. Even so there are many journalists today who are defying the pressure as they believe in their profession, and are still committed and dedicated to the truth. They are kept out by the system. They are not invited for select briefings, they are not given rides on the prime minister’s aircraft, the deputy prime minister rarely sees them, they are denied easy access to information, they are threatened and often harassed. In short, it is made clear to them: You are on your own, there is no system to protect you. You will pay for what you write, if not today then definitely tomorrow. Earlier, journalism was a profession of courage and commitment. Today, there is a choice. There is the journalism of courage and commitment. And there is today’s journalism of the fast buck, of easy rides, of quick information, of glitz provided you do what you are told. Gilani was not an aberration. He is a mirror to what might become the rule in India. (The Asian Age) Arab News Features 23 January 2003 |
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