Harassment of journalists

The registration of cases against a number of journalists and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in various parts of the country for their tweets on the events that happened in Delhi on Republic Day is a clear act of harassment. They are being booked for their social media updates on the violence that happened during the farmers’ protest. Some of the tweets had incorrectly attributed the death of a farmer to police firing. Later, it turned out that he died when his tractor overturned. But the journalists are now being accused of having given misleading information to incite trouble. The correct facts were given later, but the initial posts are now being held against them. Everyone knows that in an evolving situation, journalists report from moment to moment, and events and information overtake themselves. They cannot be accused of malice for presenting versions of an event as it progresses, giving details as they are available at the time of reporting. But that is what is being done now.

The journalists are being charged with offences that range from sedition to promoting communal disharmony to harming national integrity. It is common practice now to invoke sedition laws against critics, dissenters and those who are not on the side of the government. It is surprising that journalists, who are only doing their job, are charged with sedition. It is also ridiculous to foist conspiracy charges on them. They were at different places and it is more than a stretch to say that all of them acted in concert at a particular moment and reported or commented in the same manner on an event that nobody was expecting to happen. But logic or common sense does not help to explain the actions of the police in such cases. They make sense only if it is realised that they are intended to harass people. That is also the reason for filing multiple cases from different places. Though the protester’s death happened in Delhi, it is the UP and Madhya Pradesh police that filed cases over it. Private complaints by individuals were filed in different places. This is what should actually raise questions about concerted action.

The message is that journalists are not free to report and the slightest opportunity will be used to vilify and harass them. A free media which can function without fear and obstruction and harassment is the lifeblood of democracy. It is being subjected to pressure now. There are other cases also of journalists being targeted and slapped with charges, including sedition charges, for doing their work. That shows why the country’s position in the Press Freedom Index is at 142 among 180 countries, lower than that of many authoritarian countries.