Selective outrage on media bans in India
NDTV will face blackout on this coming November 9 for its coverage of the alleged Pathankot terror attack of January 2
NDTV will face blackout on this coming November 9 for its coverage of the alleged Pathankot terror attack of January 2.
The proposed one-day ban on the transmission of NDTV, one of the premier Indian news channels, has provoked shock and anger across India. If the increasingly fascist Modi regime does not relent, the news channel will face blackout on this coming November 9 for its coverage of the alleged Pathankot terror attack of January 2, 2016 in which half a dozen Indian soldiers and an equal number of alleged terrorists were killed. Like the identities of the perpetrators of the Pathankot attack, the explanations for the ban remain vague and unsatisfactory.
The Indian Information and Broadcasting ministry claimed, per newspaper reports, the action was taken against the channel for revealing sensitive details like location of the ammunition depot, school and residential areas as well as the location of the attackers in its coverage of the Pathankot attack. This, according to the ministry, has several ramifications such as causing alarm and demoralisation of citizens and security forces, collateral damage to critical assets, and apprehension among families of those serving in combat. As the day of the proposed ban draws closer, the Indian government functionaries are investing much rigour to come up with inventive and baffling explanations. Last week, the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar contested the action was a ban and claimed the news channel will be temporarily off the air. In a similar vein, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu described the criticism of the action as ill-informed and politically inspired. He also claimed the one-day proposed blackout was “just for one day as a token”.
NDTV to be taken off air in India for a day over ‘reckless’ terror coverage
Many commentators from so-called liberal circles as well as an impressive number of the right wing feel consternation at the ban. The powerful Editors Guild of India, main media body, called the ban “shocking and authoritarian” and condemned it as a violation of the freedom of media reminiscent of the Emergency days, a 21-month period from 1975-1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi unilaterally imposed a state of emergency that resulted in media gags and arrests of journalists.
While it is convenient for the Editors Guild of India to show outrage for the proposed one-day outage riding the bogey of the ‘freedom of media’, the powerful media body is guilty of ignoring mass state terror against media in Indian Kashmir. Kashmir Reader, a respected and a fiercely independent daily newspaper from Srinagar remains banned for the second month in running. The embargo was imposed on the eve of the Gandhi Jayanti, a national Indian festival celebrated to mark the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation. On the evening of October 2, half a dozen police officials with armed escorts entered the newspaper office, summoned the staff and asked them to stop their work as they delivered the official order. The diktat was full of innuendos and unquantifiable claims that conveyed more about the fragility of the Indian colonial mindset than its ruthless terror on the streets of Kashmir could reveal. The decree prognosticated “on the basis of credible inputs” the publication of the newspaper could “easily incite acts of violence and disturb peace and tranquillity” and therefore should be banned with immediate effect.
'Vitriolic' Arnab Goswami quits Times Now
It is not surprising it took the Editors Guild of India three weeks to respond to the ban. On October 21, the Guild issued a tame and patronising statement asking the government to reconsider the ban order while counselling the victimised journalists to uphold professional standards. President of the Guild, Raj Chengappa, said: “The Editors Guild of India requests the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir to go into the complaint that the ban was ‘arbitrary’ and that ‘no notice was served to him before publication.”
While the current moral crisis provoked by the proposed ban on NDTV transmission highlights the growing intolerance in India, it should also bring focus to inherent anti-Kashmiri and Islamophobic biases within Indian institutions that otherwise champion democracy and free press. Indian tolerance for dissent and democracy wanes and completely halts at the boundaries of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Murtaza Shibli is a journalist, author and communications and security specialist. He lives between London, Lahore and Srinagar, Kashmir. Twitter: @murtaza_shibli
The Indian Information and Broadcasting ministry claimed, per newspaper reports, the action was taken against the channel for revealing sensitive details like location of the ammunition depot, school and residential areas as well as the location of the attackers in its coverage of the Pathankot attack. This, according to the ministry, has several ramifications such as causing alarm and demoralisation of citizens and security forces, collateral damage to critical assets, and apprehension among families of those serving in combat. As the day of the proposed ban draws closer, the Indian government functionaries are investing much rigour to come up with inventive and baffling explanations. Last week, the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar contested the action was a ban and claimed the news channel will be temporarily off the air. In a similar vein, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu described the criticism of the action as ill-informed and politically inspired. He also claimed the one-day proposed blackout was “just for one day as a token”.
NDTV to be taken off air in India for a day over ‘reckless’ terror coverage
Many commentators from so-called liberal circles as well as an impressive number of the right wing feel consternation at the ban. The powerful Editors Guild of India, main media body, called the ban “shocking and authoritarian” and condemned it as a violation of the freedom of media reminiscent of the Emergency days, a 21-month period from 1975-1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi unilaterally imposed a state of emergency that resulted in media gags and arrests of journalists.
While it is convenient for the Editors Guild of India to show outrage for the proposed one-day outage riding the bogey of the ‘freedom of media’, the powerful media body is guilty of ignoring mass state terror against media in Indian Kashmir. Kashmir Reader, a respected and a fiercely independent daily newspaper from Srinagar remains banned for the second month in running. The embargo was imposed on the eve of the Gandhi Jayanti, a national Indian festival celebrated to mark the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation. On the evening of October 2, half a dozen police officials with armed escorts entered the newspaper office, summoned the staff and asked them to stop their work as they delivered the official order. The diktat was full of innuendos and unquantifiable claims that conveyed more about the fragility of the Indian colonial mindset than its ruthless terror on the streets of Kashmir could reveal. The decree prognosticated “on the basis of credible inputs” the publication of the newspaper could “easily incite acts of violence and disturb peace and tranquillity” and therefore should be banned with immediate effect.
'Vitriolic' Arnab Goswami quits Times Now
It is not surprising it took the Editors Guild of India three weeks to respond to the ban. On October 21, the Guild issued a tame and patronising statement asking the government to reconsider the ban order while counselling the victimised journalists to uphold professional standards. President of the Guild, Raj Chengappa, said: “The Editors Guild of India requests the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir to go into the complaint that the ban was ‘arbitrary’ and that ‘no notice was served to him before publication.”
While the current moral crisis provoked by the proposed ban on NDTV transmission highlights the growing intolerance in India, it should also bring focus to inherent anti-Kashmiri and Islamophobic biases within Indian institutions that otherwise champion democracy and free press. Indian tolerance for dissent and democracy wanes and completely halts at the boundaries of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Murtaza Shibli is a journalist, author and communications and security specialist. He lives between London, Lahore and Srinagar, Kashmir. Twitter: @murtaza_shibli