“Speak out!
Your words are free.
Speak up!
Your tongue is still your own.
Your body remains yours
ramrod, erect.
Speak out!
Your life is still your own.”
-Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
No one can justify this poem better than the late journalist and human rights’ activist, Anna Politkovskaya. She worked during the 2nd Chechean War(1999-2005) as an investigative journalist where she exposed the coveted hypocrisy of the Russian Government, led by President Vladimir Putin.
Anna was initially associated with Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper known for its sound criticism and resistance against the Russian establishment. Interestingly, the newspaper was established by USSR’s last General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev.
Anna used the publication to highlight the issue of human rights’ abuse committed by the Russian army, that wanted to retain Chechnya (an oil-rich territory that wanted autonomy from Russia after the collapse of USSR). Her books, A Russian Diary and Putin’s Russia, both critical accounts of Putin’s regime, drew international recognition.
She also wrote against the warlords who imposed strict Sharia Laws in Chechnya and the Russian backed administration there, led by Akhmad Kadyrov who wished to establish a mutual compromise for semi-autonomy. This bloodshed was happening under the shadow of democracy. Anna wrote extensively about this bloody conflict, often with critical and sour undertones.
Her audacity did not entertain the policymakers in Kremlin, nor the Kremlin-backed administration in Chechnya. “You are an enemy, to be shot” Ramzan Kadyrov, son of Akhmad Kadyrov and the current president of Chechen Republic said to her in a meeting in 2004. Two years later, on Oct. 7, 2006, she was shot dead in her building’s lift.
In the further course of events, her contract assassins were penalized, but the ambiguity about the sponsors of her assassins still prevails. It’s been 12 years since her death. The world has reoriented itself for better or worse. But Anna’s legacy continues to resonate the consciousness of reporters and journalist around the globe.
What Keeps Anna Alive Today?
In a society embedded with intolerance for all the wrong reasons, Anna is still relevant today, because her intolerance was towards social evils and immoral deeds.
Anna’s pen oozed the ink that soaked the blood of silence, red-tapism and repression. Her writings often made the government uncomfortable and the citizens reading it, critical and introspective. As a repercussion, it made her life vulnerable to threats, violence, and attacks. But this vulnerability of journalists is not restricted to her. Back home, Anna’s killing is similar to that of Gauri Lankesh of Lankesh Patrika, Sujaat Bukhari of Rising Kashmir, and Rajdev Ranjan from Hindustan. All of these, rebellious journalists killed for their virtue of intolerance.
With time, Anna’s journalism has been admired all over the world. Globally, she has been accredited for fueling valor, audacity, and investigation to the facet of journalism. In 2007, the Anna Politkovskaya Award was established by Reach All Women In War Organization as a memento to her contribution towards fearless journalism. The list of its recipients is long, but to name a few, it includes Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and Gauri Lankesh.