By Vineet Malik | September 7, 2023 | London, England
Decline in Media Freedom in India
Ever since, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi came into power in 2014, media freedom has constantly nosedived in India.
Newsrooms who dare to question and criticize the Indian Government for its undemocratic policies and decisions are intimidated, targeted and harassed by the Police. Many media organizations and independent journalists in India are dragged to courts for being courageous enough to hold power to account and report the truth.
A Case of Derailed Justice
Although, an exclusive story reported by The Revelation in November last year on “Indian Court Summons Air India and French JV Co. Top Brass in a Multi-Billion Fraud Case” deserved widespread coverage but went completely unreported and ignored by Indian media.
Even after 10 months of reportage by The Revelation, the matter that pertains to uncovering alleged deep-rooted corruption mired in conspiracy theory and nepotism has not seen any significant outcome in the court proceedings going on in Andheri Court, Mumbai, Maharashtra State in West India.
Horrifying Tales of Journalists Murdered in India
Last month, an independent Journalist – Vimal Yadav was shot dead from point-blank range in South Indian State – Bihar.
Despite receiving constant threat calls followed followed by a written complaint made to the local police and demanding security, Yadav was not provided security by the irresponsible police.
As per a report released by Global Media Watchdog – Reporters Sans’ Frontieres in 2023, India has slipped in World Press Freedom Index. Out of 180 countries, India ranks at 161 position.
As matter of fact, India happens to one of the world’s most dangerous countries known for journalists with an average of three to four killed in connection with their work every year.
A fearless independent journalist Gauri Lankesh who wrote against the current right-wing BJP government led by PM Narendra Modi was murdered in September 2017.
Lankesh just few months back prior to her cold blooded murder, received death threats for doing her work in Bengaluru State in South India.
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh State based reporter Rakesh Singh paid the price for reporting the truth by getting burnt alive in December 2020. The horrific incident had shaken the entire global media fraternity.
Singh had informed the District magistrate that he feared for his life, however the authorities failed to take any action.
Reports released by Media and Human Rights Watchdogs on India
The United States based media watchdog - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a report in 2018 that claimed India amongst one of the worst countries for unsolved journalists murders.
Another report released by CPJ in 2022 claimed that India along with Mexico topped the list of countries with the most media worker deaths. 28 journalists were killed due to their work in 2021.
A New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) known for advancing the cause of human rights for all released a comprehensive report in 2022 that claimed India on a dangerous backsliding pertaining to infringement of human rights.
In particular, the report delved on the dismal condition of journalists in Northern Indian City, Kashmir that witnessed increased harassment and arrests on grave terrorism charges. The United Nations (UN) raised concerns about such human rights violations including arbitrary detention and alleged custodial killings of journalists in Kashmir region.
CPJ in a yet another special report released in 2016 delved into 27 cases of journalists murdered for their work in India where-in, records were documented by CPJ ever since 1992.
The findings of the report stated that there were no convictions. More than 50 per cent of those killed reported regularly on corruption issues. The report also highlighted on how small-town journalists faced greater risk for their work and how Indian culture of impunity is leaving the country’s press vulnerable to threats and attacks.
Media censorship in India has turned out to be a brutal way to attack and victimise independent newsrooms who dare to hold power to account.
With the continuous trend of declining trend in media freedom in India, The Revelation calls on Indian Government to put an end to the harassment of journalists and let them freely perform their highest obligation of reporting the truth.
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