The brutal and barbaric assault on journalists in Uttar Pradesh should be an eye-opener for one and all, particularly for the media fraternity. The incident was no less than blatant display of hooliganism. It was unfortunate as it spells a big question mark on the law and order situation in the state and the reluctance on the part of powers-that-be to put it in order at the earliest by bringing the culprits to the book.
On the other hand, it reveals a grim tale and diminishing strength of our fourth pillar, its weakness, helplessness and pitiable plight. Let this case set an example. Why in this cases pen is not mightier than the sword? The media fraternity must stand by the family of the slain journalist. A divided media house on the basis of personal interests and commercialisation is eroding the collective strength of the fourth estate.
The collective strength of the media is deteriorating by the day. Corporatisation and materialism has made it weak and ineffective. The very institution has compromised with ethics and morality. Faith, trust and hope is on the wane and even if one tries to instil that trust he is silenced as we saw in the case of Jagendra Singh who was burnt alive for doing what he was required to do. Here, the blatant display of brutality has compelled us to believe that sometime even sword is mightier than pen. It is high time to set an example before an investigative journalist becomes an endangered species.
After every incident the security of the journalist is debated but in vain. This time the Uttar Pradesh government has assured helpline numbers for the journalist but how effectively it will be implemented is yet another question. The list of such horrific incidents goes on but the worst part is that most of the perpetrators get away easily, allegedly aided and abated by their political masters.
On 1 June, Jagendra Singh was set on fire allegedly by a group of policemen and goons believed to be allied with Mr. Verma. He battled for life for a week before he succumbed to the injury at a hospital in Lucknow. He had written extensively against alleged cases of corruption and illegal mining by the Minister. He had received repeated threats.
“Ram Murti Verma can have me killed. At this time, politicians, thugs and police, all are after me. Writing about the truth has gone against my life,” Singh, in his late forties, wrote on 22 May on his Facebook profile.
Singh’s Facebook page “Shahjahanpur Samachar” had been a rich source of information for local newspapers and it was used to pick stories from there. In his dying declaration on video, he said, “Why did they have to burn me? If the Minister and his people had something against me, they could have hit me and beaten me, instead of pouring kerosene over me and burning me.” Unfortunately, it was nothing short of mockery and vulgar display of power when an Uttar Pradesh minister described the incident as a law of nature. Needless to say, this is utter insensitivity!
The Allahabad High Court, in response to public interest litigation, directed the state government to file a status report within a week. A day after Governor Ram Naik took up the matter with Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh government suspended five policemen.
Another journalist in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district was brutally assaulted and then tied to a motorcycle and dragged for about 100 metres allegedly for his report on dubious land deals.
In Dehradun, Press Council of India Chairman C K Prasad said it was an attack on freedom of press and demanded an SIT probe into the incident. Prasad also said that the Committee was thinking of recommending enactment of a special law for the safety of journalists by Parliament and separate statistics to be collected by the National Crimes Statics Bureau on attacks on and murder of journalists in the entire country.
K Amarnath, convener of the PCI Sub-committee on Safety of Journalists, informed that the panel which visited 11 states to inquire into attacks on journalists had found 79 journalists killed in the country in the last two decades and a half and the conviction rate is very low. Till date there has been no conviction in 73 of the 79 cases. In 2013, the media reported the killing of four journalists in a span of 45 days in Uttar Pradesh. As per National Crime Bureau statistics, Uttar Pradesh accounted for 72% of the total number of crimes committed against journalists in 2014 but no one has been arrested as per data tabled in Parliament.
The announcement of helpline for journalists is no doubt a good step but it can only serve the purpose if it is monitored and the complaints are addressed accordingly and independently without coming under pressure from an quarter. The helpline will have the procedure where an aggrieved journalist can approach only district officers like the DM or SSP. Through the helpline, the complaint will be received through a toll-free number monitored by the Chief Minister. During the process the complainant can also monitor the status of his case.
In a recent survey, Lucknow has been rated as the second happiest place. Here the opportunity lies with the Chief Minister to make the entire state the happiest place and it can be made possible only by ensuring a better law and order situation and good governance.