Skip to main content

The Hoot: Indian journos faced 54 attacks, 25 threats since Jan 2016; most stressed were investigative reporters

Indore district collector banning anti-demonetization stories
In a compilation of attacks on the freedom of press in India, well-known media-watch site, “The Hoot” has said that in the 16 months for which it has collected data, from January 2016 to April 2017, as many as 54 attacks took place on journalists, apart from 25 were threats to journalists.
Based on media reports, the number of attacks and threats, believes “The Hoot”, should be “certainly bigger, because recently, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said during question hour in the Lok Sabha that 142 attacks on journalists took place in 2014-15.”
It adds, “Though seven journalists were killed, reasonable evidence of their journalism being the motive for the murder is available only in one case.”
Pointing out that “stories behind each of the attacks reveal a clear and persistent pattern”, with investigative reporting is becoming increasingly dangerous, "The Hoot" report states, “Journalists who venture out into the field to investigate any story, be it sand mining, stone quarrying, illegal construction, police brutality, medical negligence, an eviction drive, election campaigns, or civic administration corruption, are under attack.”
Attacks on journalists
It adds, “Leave alone going out into the field, those who host chat shows in the relative safety of a television studio or voice opinions on social media networks are also subjected to menacing threats, stalking and doxing.”
“The perpetrators”, according to the report, “are politicians, vigilante groups, police and security forces, lawyers (apart from the Patiala House court incident in Delhi in the wake of the JNU protests, there were a spate of attacks by lawyers in Kerala), jittery Bollywood heroes and, increasingly, mafias or criminal gangs that operate in illegal trades and mining, often under the protection of local politicians and with the knowledge of local law enforcing agencies.”
“Even with clear accusations of the identities of the perpetrators, they get away scot-free”, the report states, adding, “Law-makers and law-enforcers are the prime culprits in the attacks and threats on the media.”
Pointing out that the press “cannot be truly free when facilitating freedoms such as the Right to Information and the Right to Internet, and the freedom of expression of the creative community, are shrinking”, the report points to how district collector, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, imposed restrictions on ‘misleading’ posts on social media relating to demonetization” and the “censors” were “police, trolls, and right wing Hindu groups, who lodged complaints with the police.”
Threats to journalists
“The Internet was shut down 31 times in India in 2016 and 14 times already in 2017”, the report says, adding, “Twelve shutdowns in 2016 were as preventive action, as reactive action. In 2017, nine shutdowns were preventive action, and five were reactive action.”
The maximum number of internet shutdowns, 13, took place in Jammu & Kashmir, though other states were not far behind. Thus, in Haryana, it was shut down for nine times, in Rajasthan eight, and in Gujarat three. Other states which experienced shutdown were – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and North-Eastern states.
The attacks on freedom of speech happened, says the report, alongside the Supreme Court justifying criminal defamation law in May 2016, saying, “Right to free speech is not absolute. It does not mean freedom to hurt another's reputation which is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution."
The report regrets, “There was dismay over a ruling which seemed to nullify efforts to decriminalize defamation.”

Comments

TRENDING

World Hijab Day? Ex-Muslim women observe Feb 1 as No Hijab Day, insist: 'Put it on a Man'

I didn't know that there could ever be a thing as World Hijab Day until I received an email alert from Maryam Namazie of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), stating that several ex-Muslim women's groups had observed the same day—February 1—as No Hijab Day! According to Namazie, the day "was created on February 1 as a direct response to World Hijab Day" to "illuminate the coercive and oppressive realities of the hijab as a pillar of sex apartheid and a war on women."

Why predictions of an imminent collapse of the Russian economy may be wrong

A veteran Canadian journalist, settled in Russia, stated in a Facebook post that President Donald Trump "is apparently listening to experts who tell him that Russia's economy is on the verge of 'imploding,' and if he just squeezes a bit harder," his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "will fall into line."

Talking of increased corporate control over news, Rajdeep Sardesai 'evades' alternative media

When I received an intimation that well-known journalist Rajdeep Sardesai was to speak at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) on February 2, my instant reaction was: I know what he is going to say—his views are quite well known; he wouldn’t be saying anything new. Yet, I decided to go and listen to him to catch his mood at a time when the media, as he (and I) knew it, is changing fast due to the availability of new technological tools that were not accessible even a decade ago.

Google powered AI refuses to correct grammar of a 'balanced' piece on Trump sending chained immigrants to India!

This is a continuation of my blog on how, while the start-up-developed AI app DeepSeek is being criticized for consistently rejecting content related to China or Maoism, there appears to be no mention in Western media about why another app, developed by the powerful Google, Gemini, remains silent on Indian political issues.  

Gujarat a police state? How top High Court advocate stunned a senior-most journalist

Rajdeep Sardesai, Anand Yagnik This is a continuation of my earlier blog on well-known journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's lecture in memory of the late Achyut Yagnik at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). I was a little surprised when I received the intimation about the venue for the lecture.

5% poor in India? Union govt claim debunked, '26.4% of population below poverty line'

A recent paper, referring to the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 of the Government of India (GoI), has debunked the official claim that poverty has substantially declined. Titled "Poverty in India: The Rangarajan Method and the 2022–23 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey", the paper —authored by scholars CA Sethu, LT Abhinav Surya, and CA Ruthu—states that "more than a quarter of India’s population falls below the poverty line."

DeepSeek censors uncomfortable queries on China, but why's Gemini so touchy on India?

The powerful Chinese AI app DeepSeek, which has taken the Silicon Valley by surprise, as it has capacities matching Google’s Gemini and Open AI's ChatGPT, is being criticised for restricting free speech, and rightly so. It is being said that those signing up for the chatbot and its open-source technology "are being confronted with the Chinese Communist Party’s brand of censorship and information control."

Gujarat's water anarchy? 16.7% of Narmada water going to industry, 33% of targeted area irrigated: Govt insider

The Narmada project is something that has always excited me, including how much water will be distributed and to which sector. A few days ago, when I was talking to a top Gujarat government insider, I was a little surprised when I was told that it is up to the “respective states to decide how much Narmada water they would distribute among various sectors” out of the total quota allocated to the four states—Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan—as per the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal award of 1979.

A shocker for parents? Rush for 'prestigious' varsity degrees to reduce; instead, industry may prefer skills

Recently, I had a conversation with a senior researcher working on a project for a consumer goods multinational corporation (MNC) at one of the top institutes abroad. Insightful and articulate, he holds a PhD from a prestigious university and has a remarkable ability to analyze social dynamics. I am withholding his name because our discussion took place informally during a friend’s lunchtime gathering.