Press freedom: Threats or arrest, press must do its job

By Stanley Carvalho

The arrest of two women journalists recently in Tripura for reporting on communal violence has once again brought into sharp focus the dangers journalists face in India for doing their job.

Delhi-based journalists Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha were arrested by the Tripura police on November 14 for “creating hatred between communities by fabricating, concealing records and criminal conspiracies,” according to media reports. They were since given bail.

HW News Network, the media house where the two journalists work said in a statement: “This is sheer harassment and targeting of the press on the part of Tripura police and Tripura government to suppress us from reporting the facts of the case.”

Given the number of such cases in recent times, one is inclined to agree with the media house. Indeed, such cases serve as a reminder to reflect on the state of Press freedom in India, one of the biggest democracies in the world and the challenges journalists face in their daily work life.

Importantly, is the government taking accountability and recognizing the importance of a free Press? Is the Press truly independent or subservient and playing the government’s game as part of their survival? It is a sad state of affairs in India if one goes by the latest report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the international journalism not-forprofit body.

RSF’s World Press Freedom Index 2021 classifies India among countries “bad” for journalism and one of the most dangerous countries for journalists doing their job properly.

The latest index ranks India 142 out of 180 countries, the same ranking as in 2020 after it consistently slipped from 133 in 2016. Even India’s neighbours Nepal and Sri Lanka have beaten India taking the rank of 106 and 127 respectively.

In just about five years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s place in RSF’s press freedom index has dropped to 142 in 2021 from 133 in 2016.

The decline in ranking is not surprising given the rising fear of persecution for journalists and other dissenting voices in India. Media persons are routinely impeded from doing their work and the impediment is in the form of police interrogation, notices, detention, FIRs, arrests on sedition charges, raids, even assaults. In Kashmir, journalists have been booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Haven’t we seen videos of journalists getting lynched and being beaten publicly for trying to expose politicians or government officials?

Between 2010 and 2020, at least 154 journalists were arrested, detained or interrogated in India, according to research by Free Speech Collective, an outfit that is committed to freedom of expression. Some 40 percent of these cases were reported in 2020 alone. Underscoring the threat to free media, the RSF report on India titled ‘Modi tightens grip on the media’, notes that ever since the general elections in the spring of 2019, won overwhelmingly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, pressure has increased on the media to toe the Hindu nationalist government’s line.

“They are exposed to every kind of attack, including police violence against reporters, ambushes by political activists and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials,” says the report.

Furthermore, since the Covid-19 breakout, journalists have been facing unprecedented challenges to report accurately and safely on the pandemic in India.

Interpreting scientific data, telling the human stories and holding political leaders to account is no mean feat for reporters who are deemed a crucial part of the frontline battle against covid-19.

But even in such a situation, as RSF points out, “the government took advantage of the coronavirus crisis to step up its control of news coverage by prosecuting journalists providing information at variance with the official position.”

This year’s World Press Freedom Day theme is “information as a public good” serving as a call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good and exploring what can be done in the production, distribution and reception of content to strengthen journalism and to advance transparency and empowerment while leaving no one behind.

As journalists face new challenges every day including violence and threats to their lives and given India’s vast media landscape, India would do well to emulate countries such as Norway that prizes its democracy and freedom of expression. Last year, Norway set up a special commission to conduct comprehensive reviews on conditions of freedom of speech and look specifically into safeguarding journalists and come up with ways to curb