Modi's 'freedom of the press' message hardly masks the reality facing media in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken time out from his busy schedule to greet his “friends in the media on National Press Day”. Tweeting out from his personal handle, Modi expressed his government's commitment to “upholding freedom of press and expression in all forms”.

While some may look upon this message as a comforting statement from the PM, it hardly masks the reality that the Indian media faces. The country, at the bottom third of the global press freedom rankings, slipped lower this year. Journalists and media orgnanisations regularly face attacks, censorship and lawsuits, including sedition cases.

Media watchdog 'The Hoot' released a report in May 2017 that said at least 54 attacks on journalists were reported in 16 months preceding the reports. Television news channels were banned on at least three instances, the internet shut down 45 times, and 45 sedition cases filed against individuals and groups in the same period.

In the World Press Freedom Index, released annually by Reporters Without Borders, India slipped three points down from last year. The 180-strong list of nations features India at 136, with an accompanying statement that self-censorship is growing and that journalists are increasingly being targeted through online smear campaigns, prosecutions and new foreign funding regulations.

It has been palpable for some time:

• In a dark testimony to all that these reports tried to flag, Bengaluru-based senior journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead right outside her house in September 2017. The assailants are yet to be caught.
• In July 2016, another journalist, Rajdeo Ranjan, was shot dead in Siwan, Bihar. His murderers are yet to be convicted.
• In October 2017, Chhattisgarh police arrested former BBC journalist Vinod Verma on charges of allegedly blackmailing a Chhattisgarh minister with a 'sex CD'. Verma is still in custody.
• Also in October, the son of BJP's chief Amit Shah, filed a criminal defamation suit against journalist Rohini Singh, founding editors, managing editor and public editor of the news portal 'The Wire' as well as the Foundation for Independent Journalism, the non-profit that publishes ‘The Wire’. Jay Shah is being represented by Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in the case.

Repression on journalists and news organisations indulging in vehement criticism of the government of the day is not unique to only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress-led UPA government also faced much criticism on this ground.

However, the record during the BJP regime has been more worrisome. Recall the well-known case of hounding of journalists working for the news-magazine Tehelka under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-government.

The current avatar of the Natonal Democric Alliance (NDA) under Modi and Shah has also brazenly occupied the media space by launching a TV channel run by one of its own resourceful MPs. It is easy to call the channel out, thanks to its fixation with opposition parties and leaders. It almost always turns a blind eye to allegations against the government and the governing party.

The party has also misused new media as a force multiplier to spread fake news about opponents. That game is only beginning to turn around now, thanks to multiple other social media initiatives that bust fake news and propaganda.

Modi himself avoids the press like a ghost. He is about to enter the last year of his tenure and he is yet to face a press conference, a formal press interaction or even un-staged interviews.

So, when he says that “a free press is the cornerstone of a vibrant democracy”, that sounds more like a homily than anything else. It does open a window, however, to his understanding of what “a vibrant democracy” is.

Edited by Joyjeet Das