Terming the ongoing Israel-Gaza war as the most dangerous conflict for journalists ever documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), CPJ President, Jodie Ginsberg speaking to BBC News said that the conflict has taken severe toll on journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, with 39 journalists getting killed in last one month.
According to Ginsberg, the level of danger for journalists operating in Gaza right now is absolutely unprecedented. This is the most dangerous conflict for journalists that CPJ has ever documented.
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But closer home, the situation is nothing great either. India features among countries with the worst records on prosecuting journalists’ killers, according to CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index, despite the fact that India is not at war with any country.
India shares this dubious distinction with Syria, Somalia, Haiti, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico, Philippines, Myanmar, Brazil and Pakistan. All these countries are known for either dictatorial rule or a defunct democracy.
India proudly claims to be the largest democracy in the world. The most important feature for a vibrant democracy is free speech and press freedom is its most critical indicator. Unfortunately, this is missing in India.
A report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) revealed that 48 journalists were killed in India between 1992 and 2018. That stark statistic testifies to the ubiquity of violence, bringing home the gravity of the situation, indicating the levels of risk journalists increasingly take to just do their jobs.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released the 21st edition of its World Press Freedom Index in May this year. India slipped to the 161st rank in terms of press freedom out of 180 countries ranked, 11 ranks worse than 2022, when it stood at 150. In 2021, the rank was 142.
A total of 194 journalists, including seven women journalists, were targeted across India in 2022, according to the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG). These journalists were targeted by state agencies, non-State political actors and criminals.
Jammu and Kashmir experienced the highest number of targeted journalists (48), followed by Telangana (40). Other regions affected included Odisha (14), Uttar Pradesh (13), Delhi (12), West Bengal (11), Madhya Pradesh and Manipur (six each), Assam and Maharashtra (five each), Bihar, Karnataka, and Punjab (four each), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Meghalaya (three each), Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (two each), and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Uttarakhand (one each).
Journalists are routinely threatened, intimidated, arrested, booked and silenced through gag orders and concocted charges by the State. Those who speak up against the government are also at risk of being booked for sedition or arrested under draconian laws such as the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA, the National Security Act and the Public Security Act (PSA).
The raids on NewsClick and the arrest of founder and the HR head, Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty, under the draconian UAPA law are the latest examples of the Indian government trying to destroy independent and critical media.
Independence and fearless thought, usually considered to be invaluable journalistic attributes, are now becoming a serious – even dangerous – hindrance for media professionals.
If journalists in prime locations and metropolitan cities are under attack, those away from media and public glare, one can very well imagine the condition of journalists working in small towns and villages. They are more vulnerable and worse, nobody cares about them.
It must be understood that democracy is not just about elections. It is about having a free and a liberal society. We can’t even hold free and fair elections. Poll violence, booth capturing, allegations of EVM tampering – all these go against the ethos of a healthy democracy.
Article 19 of the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression, which defines the essence of journalism. But does anybody even care about protecting the Fundamental Rights of the country’s citizens, leave alone journalists?
Defending journalistic freedom is one of the hallmarks of any civilised and honest society. Journalists must be allowed to function in a safe environment without fear of retribution or danger to their lives. The killings and harassment must stop now for democracy to survive. There are growing voices against the muzzling of free press in India from the West, especially the USA. But every time our ministers silence them, saying that we don’t need lessons in democracy. How long can we shut such voices?
In contrast, we see the media organisations toeing the government line and deliberately trying to create unrest in the society, are being given a free run to tear apart our country’s secular fabric.
As stated by Amnesty International after the arrest of NewClick founder and the HR head, “Journalism is not a crime”. It is one of the four pillars on which democracy thrives. You take out this pillar and the entire structure will collapse. With no press to question the government, we will see anarchy ruling the roost since there won’t be any accountability. This is a real threat to the very existence of this country, which can’t be allowed to happen.
