Media houses told to reject Sabarimala Karma Samithi "misogyny" in deploying journos

Counterview Desk
The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI), strongly reacting to the Sabarimala Karma Samithi -- which wrote to editor’s news media owners, asking them to refrain from deputing women of certain age groups from reporting on Sabarimala on November 5, when a special puja was to take place -- has said that all media houses should refuse to entertain such "misogyny" and to "deploy the best journalist for the job, not limiting the choice to men.”
“We also demand the state and the police should give sufficient protection to every reporter, of all gender identities,” the statement says, adding, the Samithi has no right to “interfere with the media and prevent journalists who happen to be women from doing their jobs.”
Women journalists reportedly faced threats at Sabarimala gates when these were scheduled to re-open. They were hit, heckled, and the cars they were travelling in destroyed. Those who faced such attacks included TNM’s Saritha Balan, Republic TV’s Pooja Prasanna, India Today’s Mausami Singh, CNN News18’s Radhika Ramaswamy and NDTV’s Sneha Koshy. The National Commission of Women chairperson Rekha Sharma asked Kerala DGP Loknath Behera to take appropriate action.

Text of the NWMI statement:

The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) strongly objects to the statement issued by the Sabarimala Karma Samithi on November 3, 2018, to editors and decision-makers in the news media, requesting them to refrain from deputing women journalists of a particular age group to Sabarimala to cover the reopening of the temple for a special puja on Monday (November 5). We believe this is an unjustified and unacceptable interference in the functioning of the media and an unfair obstacle in the way of journalists –who happen to be women– who wish to cover an important story of public interest.
When the temple opened for monthly puja for five days in October - the first time it was opening after the Supreme Court order lifting the ban on the entry of girls and women in the age group of 10-50 - women reporters attempting to cover the historic occasion were heckled, and both they and their vehicles were attacked, by protesters opposing any change in the status quo. Female devotees in the hitherto proscribed age group were also subjected to harassment and forced to abandon their efforts to reach the temple to pray.
While claiming to recognise the media's right to support or oppose the stand of devotees on this issue, the Samithi requests the media "to take a sympathetic approach to the feelings and aspirations of crores of devotees" and "refrain from deputing women journalists of the above-mentioned age group to Sabarimala." It is significant that it places the onus of "maintaining peace and harmony at the Holy Shrine of Sabarimala" and not aggravating the situation on the media. As a joint platform made up of organisations opposing the entry of women and trying to ensure that the Supreme Court's judgement cannot be implemented, it is they who are in a position to ensure that the protest remains peaceful and violates neither the fundamental rights of female devotees who wish to worship at the temple and nor of female reporters who wish to cover the story.
We believe the Samithi's stand amounts to depriving women journalists of their right to respond to the call of professional duty and responsibility. It also goes against the freedom of expression and right to information that are fundamental rights to which all citizens are entitled. The Samithi and others who oppose the Supreme Court's verdict are welcome to make use of the legal options available to them to pursue their goals. They have no right to interfere with the media and prevent journalists who happen to be women from doing their jobs. Worse, in effect, it amounts to an open threat from the Samithi to women journalists.
We believe editors must not allow veiled threats from various organisations to determine how the media goes about its duty to report on events and processes about which citizens have a right to know.
NWMI requests all media houses to refuse to entertain such misogyny and to deploy the best journalist for the job, not limiting the choice to men.
We also demand the state and the police should give sufficient protection to every reporter, of all gender identities.

Comments

Buddhist shrines massively destroyed by Brahmanical rulers in "pre-Islamic" era: Historian DN Jha's survey

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Labelling a Jesuit a Marxist? It's like saying if you use a plane, you become American

Jesuits: Cedric Prakash, Stan Swamy By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* A thirteen- fourteen-year-old has many dreams! That's an impressionable age; at the cusp of finishing school. It is also a time when one tastes a different kind of freedom: to go for camps with boys of your own age (not with ones family). Such camps and outings were always enjoyed to the hilt. The ones, however, which still remain etched in my memory are the mission camps to the Jesuit missions in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Giant conglomerates 'favoured': Whither tribal rights for jal-jungle-jameen?

Prafull Samantara By Mohammad Irshad Ansari* The struggle for “Jal, Jungle and Jameen” has been a long-drawn battle for the tribal communities of India. This tussle was once again in the limelight with the proposed diamond mining in the Buxwaha forest of Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh). The only difference in this movement was the massive social media support it gained, which actually seems to tilt the scale for the tribal people in a long time.

Tussle between Modi-led BJP govt, Young India 'key to political battle': NAPM

Counterview Desk In its month-long campaign, civil rights network National Alliance for People’s Movements (NAPM) carried out what it called Young People's Political Persecution and Resistance in “solidarity with all comrades facing political persecution and remembering human rights defender Stan Swamy…”

Lost to commercialisation, vanity? Ashram awaits 'second assassination' of Gandhiji

Counterview Desk Around 130 “concerned” citizens, in a statement, have protested against the Government of India and Gujarat government decision to turn Gandhi Ashram into a ‘world-class’ tourist destination spread over 54 acres at the cost of Rs 1,200 crore, which would include a Gandhi Ashram Memorial, an amphitheater, a VIP lounge, shops and a food court, stating it would compromise and trivialize the “sanctity and importance of the present-day Ashram, mainly Hriday Kunj, surrounding buildings, and the museum.”

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Debt bondage, forced labour, sexual abuse in Gujarat's Bt cottonseed farms: Dutch study

By Rajiv Shah A just-released study, sponsored by a Netherlands-based non-profit, Arisa , “Seeds of Oppression Wage sharecropping in Bt cottonseed production in Gujarat, India”, has said that a new form of bondage, or forced labour, exists in North India’s Bt cottonseed farms, in which bhagiyas, or wage sharecroppers, are employed against advances and are then often required to work for years together “without regular payment of wages.”

Govt of India has 'no moral right' to declare national day for Muslim women, Naqvi told

Counterview Desk In what has been described as a nationwide outpouring of condemnation, following the announcement by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of Minority Affairs, declaring August 1 as ‘Muslim Women’s Rights Day’ to mark the anniversary of the Triple Talaq law, over 650 citizens have said it is nothing but "cynical optics" of using Muslim women’s rights in the face of an "unprecedented" onslaught against the rights of the Muslims in recent years.

Covid: We failed to stop religious, political events, admits Modi-dharmacharya meet

Counterview Desk An email alert sent by one the 11 participants, Prof Salim Engineer, on behalf of the Dharmik Jan Morcha regarding their "religious leaders' online meet" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as offering "support to meet challenges of Corona pandemic", blames religious congregations, though without naming the Maha Kumbh and other religious events, which apparently were instrumental in the spread of the second wave.

Madhya Pradesh Adivasis protest externment notice to Barwani tribal rights leader

By Harsing Jamre, Nasri Bai Ningwal, Prakash Bandod* Over 2,500 Adivasis mobilized in response to Barwani district administration’s recent move to issue a show cause notice to Valsingh Saste, a prominent Adivasi activist of Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), Madhya Pradesh. For two decades, Valsingh Saste as an activist of JADS has been continuously leading struggles for the constitutional and fundamental rights of Adivasis.

Counterview

Search This Blog