Reasserting media's rights in India        

The media fraternity of India observed an unusual Gandhi Jayanti this time as scores of scribes across the country organised demonstrations in different locations with the sole demand for ensuring security and justice to working journalists. Press clubs, journo-bodies and media organisations formed human chains and organised symbolic protest rallies in support of the demand.

The reason behind the decision of demonstrating their angers on the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi  on October 02 was the relentless violence against the journalists in different  forms across the south Asian nation. With the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, who was a dedicated journalist before emerging as India's Father of the Nation, the media fraternity thus made a commitment to defy all mental and physical challenges in their professional life.

The largest democracy in the world remains an unsafe place for serious journalists irrespective of the regimes in power at New Delhi or any province capital. The populous country witnesses the murder of around five media persons annually and that has not changed for decades. The land of  Lord Bishnu and Bhagawan Buddha has also failed to resolve any of those journo-murder cases legally.

The month of September was marked by three shocking news of journo-murders in the country and the media fraternity and with their well-wishers have apparently rediscovered the vulnerability for those scribes who pursue critical journalism. The year 2017 has witnessed the killing of eight journalists in nine months, but as usual the reactions to those killings from the authority and the public remain lukewarm.

It was only Kannada editor-journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder on September 05 at her Bangaluru (earlier known as Bangalore) residence that aroused massive protests across the country. Publisher of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada language newspaper in Karnataka of central India, Ms Gauri was shot dead by unidentified gunmen, following which strong reaction was observed not only from inside the country but also various international organisations.

The assassination of Left ideology-inclined Ms Gauri's motivated civil society groups, which are predominantly against the Hindu nationalists like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), to come out on streets demanding justice. They issued statements that, the outspoken journalist was targeted by the ruling political elements as she used to criticise both RSS and BJP.

However, the Congress-ruled Karnataka province government and its chief minister Siddaramaiah had a cordial relationship with Ms Gauri. Soon after her assassination, the chief minister described her demise  as a personal  loss. But for reasons, best known to Siddaramaiah only, his reactions against the killer(s) of  Ms Gauri, 55, were soft. So is the investigation process!

Protest-demonstrations were so loud that it inspired a Communist Party of India (Marxist)-run Tripura government chief minister to  participate in a demonstration at Agartala. The CPIM chief minister Manik Sarkar's participation in the protest programme encouraged the media fraternity of northeast India and he was highly appreciated for the gesture.

But when a young television scribe of Tripura itself was beaten to death by a mob, the same CPI (M) chief minister remained silent. The Agartala-based journalists, while condemning the murder of Shantanu Bhowmik on September 20, had to raise their voice for getting reactions from Sarkar. Even then the chief minister, also in charge of home portfolio, pronounced a spongy reaction towards the incident.

However, the condemnations from various national and international bodies were pouring against the brutal murder of Shantanu, 29, who used to work for an Agartala-based  Bengali-language cable news channel named Din-Raat. A series of protest programmes were organised by various Indian media bodies across the country demanding justice to Shantanu's bereaved mother and sister.

On the fateful day, Shantanu went to cover a programme of  Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), which was protesting against the ruling CPI (M) and slowly it turned violent. Claimed to have support from the tribal population of Tripura, the IPFT demands a separate homeland (read Twipraland) for the tribal people out of Tripura. The party, which has seemingly a political understanding with the BJP, has continued its violent protests for the last few years.

The IPFT protest programme at Mandwai of west Tripura, bordering Bangladesh, soon witnessed the arrival of many cadres belonged to the CPI (M)'s tribal wing, Tripura Rajya Upajati Ganamukti Parishad (TRUGP), at the location. Both the parties had already engaged in violent clashes on the previous day at the same location.

So the situation got charged and finally members of both IPFT and TRUGP turned aggressive and later violent.  Shantanu started shooting the violent activities with his mobile phone, as his lens-man avoided the professional camera for fear of abusive reactions from the agitators. As Shantanu started capturing the visuals of IPFT members attacking the opponents and the  police  and also damaging  vehicles on the roadside, he was asked initially to stop recording.

Later the protesters chased him for the phone and some of them turned unruly and attacked Shantanu with sticks, rods and other  sharp weapons. Blood-soaked Shantanu was rescued and sent to the hospital by the police, but on his way to the hospital, he stopped breathing. His mobile phone was missing, as revealed by the State police chief Akhil Kumar Shukla.

Meanwhile, Shantanu's killing was condemned and condoled by various international forums like  the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Paris-based Reporters sans/without Borders (RSF) and the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Everyone of them asked the Tripura government to go for a 'thorough investigation' into the death of Shantanu, to bring those responsible to justice and also to ensure the future safety of journalists.

Amnesty International, in its condemnation statement, pointed out that the killing of journalists cannot become the order of the day. State governments in India must do everything in their power to prevent journalists from becoming targets for their viewpoints or affiliations. Authorities must end impunity for these killings, it added. Condemning the killing of Shantanu, UNESCO  director-general Irina Bokova said, "I trust the authorities will conduct an investigation into this killing and bring its perpetrators to justice."

In India, all influential media bodies like Indian Newspaper Society, Editors' Guild of India, Broadcast Editors' Association, Press Club of India, Indian Women's Press Corps, Federation of Press Clubs in India and  various journalist unions strongly condemned the murder of Shantanu and urged the Manik Sarkar government help delivering justice. Even the Press Council of India, a quasi-judicial body, took note of Shantanu's killing and sought a report from the Tripura government.

All media bodies of northeast India came out on streets with the protest demonstrations against the killing of Shantanu and  demanded a high-level probe  (preferably by Central Bureau of Investigation).

Extending moral supports to the Tripura journalists for justice, the media bodies asked the government to compensate the family of Shantanu adequately. They also urged the Union government in New Delhi to formulate a national action plan for delivering earliest justices to journo-victim families.

According to the RSF, India is ranked 136th among 180 countries in its   World Press Freedom Index (2017) barometer, which is just ahead of its neighbours like Pakistan (139th), Sri Lanka (141), Bangladesh (146) and China (176). Norway topped the list where India's neighbours, including Bhutan (84), Nepal (100), Maldives (117), Afghanistan (120), Myanmar (131), etc., are ahead of it. One-party ruled North Korea (180) is at the bottom of the list, where Vietnam and China are placed at 175th  and 176th positions respectively.

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