Tell the truth and pay the price

This is what happens when media persons dare to explore the truth and tries to show the world and the society the real picture. Instead of addressing or criticising the content of a report or article, people have a habit of attacking the person. And the attack can be physically thrashing or even killing when the people against whom the report is directed are powerful lots. A healthy criticism is always constructive, as it opens the door for a wider discussion on the topic. However, this is not always the case.

This is what happened to Times of India reporter Prashant Dayal and resident editor Bharat Desai in Gujarat, who were booked for sedition (under IPC 124-A) criminal conspiracy (120-B), and defamation and conspiracy against the state and the police force (34). What was their crime? They wrote a series of report on city police commissioner (Ahmedabad) O.P. Mathur.

Kumar Ketkar, editor of Loksatta (Mumbai), met his bad fate when his house was torched and vandalised by supporters of Shiv Sangram, a political outfit of Maharashtra. His crime …his newspaper dared to question the rationale of state government’s decision to construct 94 metre statue of Shivaji against a whooping Rs 3 billion in a state where farmers were committing suicide.

Remember how NDTV reporter Prakash Singh and cameraman Habib Ali were beaten black and blue by an MLA, Anant Kumar Singh and his henchmen in Patna in October last year. And how bluntly and boldly the powerful MLA was found to be defending his action. How can one forget the day when Shiv Sena activists ransacked the office of ‘Outlook’ magazine, Mumbai? And Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter whose kidnapping and murder in early 2002 in Pakistan brought the killing of journalists on the centre stage.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based independent organisation that compiles information on the deaths of journalists, during the last decade, 341 journalists have been killed while carrying out their professional duty. Out of this, 64 journalists were killed in 2007 alone, which is up from 56 last year. CPJ statistics reveals that only 68 journalists (20 per cent) died in cross fire, while 247 (72 per cent) were killed or murdered often out of personal vendetta for their reporting.

During the last decade, the year 1994 witnessed 66 journalists killed worldwide followed by 51 deaths in 1995. The year 2004 was the deadliest, which saw 57 journalists lose their lives. While Iraq saw 31 deaths, Somalia recorded 7 deaths the second-most-dangerous country. Since 1995, 16 journalists have been killed in India. According to a 40-page report released by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on May 03 this year (also the World Press Freedom Day), 29 journalists and media workers from 6 South Asian countries lost their lives while performing their professional duties during June-2007 to March-2008.

In journalism, among the dangerous work assignment are photography and recording of conflicts, for example, riots, agitations and hartals in India are the most challenging job assignments, in which journalists are often found to be at a great risk. Several incidents of camera snatching, thrashing and physical assault have been reported. It is to be noted that during the last decade 62 cameramen and photographers have lost their lives for covering the actions in a conflicts live. Tabish Khair, the then correspondent of Times of India had written a chilling account of his experiences during Babri mosque demolition.

See the general trend in Indian society: people love watching or reading a good report or article; they admire exposure of corrupt politicians and officials; they even talk about the reports and articles, but the report provider or article writer gets the least attention. People as well as the government are insensitive to the efforts of journalists, regardless of their safety. In a globalised world, the importance of positive journalism has increased manifold. As more and more young people are opting for journalism as career, there is a need for increasingly greater safety norms for them, especially from the vested interest groups.

Democracy is a successful form of government only when the fourth column is free, proactive and sincere in its role of showing the society the bare truth that help people understand the real happenings in the country. Democracy is successful only when the people have the freedom of speech, courage to speak against the injustice and maintain sincerity in building a healthy society. But the safety and security of the journalists are the prerequisites for democracy.