India slipped to rank 142 in the World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last week. RSF in its report has said, “India’s score in this year’s World Press Freedom Index is heavily affected by the situation in Kashmir where, after rescinding the state’s autonomy, the federal government shut down fixed-line and mobile Internet connections completely for several months, making it virtually impossible for journalists to cover what was happening in what has become a vast open prison.“
The prolonged lockdown in Kashmir is perhaps a one-time event that affected the rankings this year. However, India has constantly ranked poorly in RSF’s assessment report. In 2018, India ranked 138, and in 2019, India ranked 140.
“Criminal prosecutions are meanwhile often used to gag journalists critical of the authorities, with some prosecutors invoking Section 124a of the penal code, under which “sedition” is punishable by life imprisonment,” said RSF.
What has been happening with journalists across the country is clearly known to everyone who has not been living under a rock.
Perpetual attempts to silence the voice of journalists are made by the ruling dispensation through invoking various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against them.
For instance, on April 24, the Coimbatore police in Tamil Nadu booked Andrew Sam Raja Pandian, founder of Simplycity (a digital media platform) under Section 505 and 188, IPC, and Section 3 of The Epidemic Diseases Act. And under similar charges, Siddharth Vardarajan, founding editor of The Wire was also booked by the UP Police earlier this month.
In another major incident, Masrat Zahra, a photojournalist based in Kashmir, was booked by Srinagar police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for the pictures that she had uploaded on social media sites. Police accused Zahra of uploading “anti-national” posts.
It has often been seen that these charges are dropped by the courts, as they don’t find any merit in the case.
No Constitutional Guarantee
The right exercised by the journalists to report freely stems through Article 19(a) of the constitution that guarantees the “freedom of expression.” However, the lack of a constitutional guarantee specifically for the freedom of the press, unlike in the US Constitution, makes the press vulnerable to subjugation by the state.
The police that acts on the best of the political class find means to intimidate the journalists through misusing sections of the IPC. And since the court hearing doesn’t take place immediately, the objective of intimidating the journalists is achieved.
Although there is a Press Council of India (PCI) that has been legally empowered to act as a watchdog of the press, yet it falls short of protecting the journalists and freedom of press from the blatant misuse of power by the state.
An Independent Watchdog Needed
What’s needed at this moment, I strongly feel, is an amendment to the existing press laws (like ‘The Press Council of India Act, 1978’) or a new law to be passed by the parliament, which will work towards protecting press freedom.
An independent statutory organisation must be created which shall be empowered to scrutinize the news reports, and further decide if the news agency or the journalist has committed an offence and is liable for prosecution, or not.
Along with that, the government should establish fast track courts in every state to deliver the verdict on the cases of journalists quickly. This will ensure that justice is served, and the press freedom is not compromised.
The Fourth Pillar
The press is considered the fourth pillar of democracy. Its responsibility is immense and unless no remedy is done, the freedom of the press of the world’s largest democracy will continue to remain incapacitated.
A time may come, when we (the news viewers/ readers) won’t have the liberty of choosing between NDTV and Republic TV, or, between The Hindu and The Indian Express, as all the media organisations might just be controlled by the state and will run the same news that will glorify the ruling dispensation.