Skip to main content

A Govt of India move to 'force' journos to join cacophony of state propaganda: CASR

Counterview Desk 

The civil rights network* Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), condemning the raid on the house and office of the editors of The Wire, has said, police and investigative agencies like CBI and ED are being used as tools to attack the independent media houses and individual journalists.
Describing Indian state “Brahmanical Hindutva fascist”, in a statment, CASR said, it is “forcing the journalists to either join the cacophony of the state's propaganda or else they are silenced. Curtailing of press freedom is part of larger campaign to control India by fuelling anti-people hate propaganda.”

Text:

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) condemns the raids carried out by Delhi Police at mid night on the house of the various editors of The Wire and its office based in Delhi, on the complaint of BJP Spokesperson Amit Malviya pertaining to series of articles about Amit Malviya enjoying special censorship on the contents being published on social media company named ‘Meta'.
Despite The Wire publishing a report, clarifying that the media agency was deceived by one of its employee into publishing factually incorrect and unsubstantiated reports pertaining to said censorship, Crime Branch of Delhi Police raided the house of Siddharth Vardarajan, MK Venu, Sidharth Bhatia and Jahnavi Sen on 31st October, followed by the seizure of their laptops, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
The Wire is known for its critical and ethical reporting, which is doing justice to the role of media in these times and we believe that such a raid on the media personnel of The Wire is part of a larger attack on free press.
It's not new that the independent media houses, from time to time, are being terrorised by such raids. This all had increased many folds in these fascistic times, with many journalists being subjected to incarceration and extra judicial killings. According to the India Press Freedom Report 2021 by the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG), "At least six journalists were killed, 108 attacked and 13 media houses or newspapers targeted across the country".
The widespread attacks on the press freedom from J&K to Tripura are an indicator of the continuing deterioration of civic space in the country. The highest number of journalists or media organisations targeted was in J&K (25), followed by Uttar Pradesh (23), Madhya Pradesh (16), Tripura (15), Delhi (8), Bihar (6), Assam (5), Haryana and Maharashtra (4 each), Goa and Manipur (3 each), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (2 each), and Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala (1 each),” the report stated.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 9th Feb 2021 raided the Delhi office and residences of the owners and journalists associated with the independent media portal NewsClick.in. Sources close to the company said that the immediate trigger was the extensive coverage of the farmers’ protests by the media outlet as it had garnered several million views
The CBI raid of NDTV is also an example of the witch hunt planned by the government. Apart from this there are many cases being filed in Gujrat from Adani Group on the journalists reporting on the illegitimate activities of the corporate. 
The Adani Group has mounted a defamation case against freelance journalist Ravi Nair who is based in Delhi. Nair has been a frequent contributor to AdaniWatch. The complaint against Nair was filed in the court of Gandhinagar in Adani’s home state of Gujarat and is dated 19 August 2021.
Similar is the case of Jharkhand based Independent Journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh, who has been booked under UAPA for allegedly aiding the ‘Maoist Leadership’. He has been vocal on the issue of corporate loot of resources through militarisation in tribal areas of Jharkhand and its impact on people’s lives. He was earlier picked up in 2019, also for allegedly helping the ‘Maoists’ but was released due to lack of evidence against him. He was one of the many who’s phone was snooped using Pegasus spyware.
Brahmanical Hindutva fascist state is forcing the journalists to either join the cacophony of the state's propaganda or else they are silenced. Curtailing of press freedom is part of larger campaign to control India by fuelling anti-people hate propaganda.
The mainstream pro-Hindutva media is involved in broadcasting the prime times based on targeting the oppressed minorities, oppressed sections, activists and public intellectuals based on the cooked evidences. This leading to the pogroms as had happened in Delhi last year, there is no action taken on these media houses whereas the fact checking journalists like Mohammad Zubair of AltNews are being booked under various falsified charges.
The Wire is known for its critical and ethical reporting, which is doing justice to the role of media
The media also re-enforces the media trials in which the minds are already being prepared to accept victims as the perpetrators. Those very few media outlets and freelancer who are still raising the democratic voices are being targeted.
Finally, it must be noted that the branding and targeting journalists to demoralise and demonise them is a tactic that the State is deploying with increasing frequency and intensity. Be it in the arrest of academics, activists, lawyers, journalists and poets in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case or the incarceration of journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh, Siddiqui Kappan, Fahad Shah of ‘Kasmir Walla', Asif Sultan and now several more, it is evident that the State is becoming more and more intolerant of any critical voice or dissent. At such times, it is imperative that democratic and progressive voices speak out, else risk being silenced forever.
Campaign Against State Repression urges democratic and progressive organisations and individuals to condemn this raid on Journalists of ‘the wire' and stand in defence of Democratic and pro people Journalism.
Our Demands:
1. Stop witch hunt of journalists of The Wire.
2. Stop harassing the journalists and attacking the independent media houses.
3. Release all pro people and democratic Journalists.
4. The media trials ahead of the judicial trials, purposefully done to demonise the activists, journalists, academics and other oppressed and exploited sections must be stopped immediately.
---
*AISA, AISF, APCR, BCM, Bhim Army, Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, BSCEM, CEM, CRPP, CTF, Disha, DISSC, DSU, DTF, IAPL, IMK, Karnataka Janashakti, KYS,, LSI, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, Mehnatkash Mahila Sangathan, Morcha Patrika, NAPM, NBS, , Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Satyashodak Sangh, SFI, United Against Hate, WSS

Comments

TRENDING

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857  By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

The curious case of multiple entries of a female voter of Maharashtra: What ECI's online voter records reveal

By Venkatesh Nayak*  Cyberspace is agog with data, names and documents which question the reliability of the electoral rolls prepared by the electoral bureaucracy in Maharashtra prior to the General Elections conducted in 2024. One such example of deep dive probing has brought to the surface, the name of one female voter in the 132-Nalasopara (Gen) Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra. Nalasopara is part of the Palghar (ST) Lok Sabha constituency. This media report claims that this individual's name figures multiple times in the voter list of the same constituency.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Spirit of leadership vs bondage: Of empowered chairman of 100-acre social forestry coop

By Gagan Sethi*  This is about Khoda Sava, a young Dalit belonging to the Vankar sub-caste, who worked as a bonded labourer in a village near Vadgam in Banskantha district of North Gujarat. The year was 1982. Khoda had taken a loan of Rs 7,000 from the village sarpanch, a powerful landlord doing money-lending as his side business. Khoda, who had taken the loan for marriage, was landless. Normally, villagers would mortgage their land if they took loan from the sarpanch. But Khoda had no land. He had no option but to enter into a bondage agreement with the sarpanch in order to repay the loan. Working in bondage on the sarpanch’s field meant that he would be paid Rs 1,200 per annum, from which his loan amount with interest would be deducted. He was also obliged not to leave the sarpanch’s field and work as daily wager somewhere else. At the same time, Khoda was offered meal once a day, and his wife job as agricultural worker on a “priority basis”. That year, I was working as secretary...

Proposed Modi yatra from Jharkhand an 'insult' of Adivasi hero Birsa Munda: JMM

Counterview Desk  The civil rights network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM), which claims to have 30 grassroots groups under its wings, has decided to launch Save Democracy campaign to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to be launched on November 15 from the village of legendary 19th century tribal independence leader Birsa Munda from Ulihatu (Khunti district).

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman*  Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Morbi’s ceramic workers face silicosis epidemic, 92% denied legal health benefits: PTRC study

By Rajiv Shah  A new study by the Gujarat-based health rights organisation, Peoples Training and Research Centre (PTRC), warns that most workers in Morbi district’s ceramic industry—which produces 90% of India’s ceramic output—are at high risk of contracting silicosis, a deadly occupational disease.