[ Prafulla Kaman ]
The people of India celebrated our 78th Independence Day a few days back. The government authorities, political workers, and the general public of the country celebrated the day with enthusiasm. The people of the northeastern region too celebrated the day, defying militant diktats to avoid the Independence Day programmes.
Following the central government’s instruction, the state government organised programmes such as Har Ghar Tiranga, tiranga yatra, bike rally, and tiranga musical concert in every nook and corner. The organisers also paid visits to the houses of freedom fighters to mark the occasion.
It was observed that many private television channels live telecast the Independence Day celebration with colourful presentations. News portals and other social media sites were not lagging behind the television channels in propagating the celebration.
Besides the government-run television and radio channels, the private media too observed their duties,considering it their duty and responsibility.
Now, the matter of discussion is of freedom of the journalists dedicatedly working in the country. The question of press freedom arises in the minds of journalists who are accustomed to work with dedication and criticise the government’s wrong policies.
Is the government of our country giving a free hand to the journalists? Are the journalists enjoying the freedom of expression that is enshrined in the Constitution of India?
The journalists of the country are concerned that the fundamental right to seek and disseminate information through an independent press is under attack. The elected leaders, who should be press freedom’s staunchest defenders, have made explicit attempts to silence critical media voices and strengthen outlets that serve up favourable coverage.
The recent data on Global Press Index reveals that India’s press freedom has rapidly declined in the recent years, after the NDA government came to power for a second consecutive term.
According to the index, India is ranked 159 out of the 180 nations considered in the 2024 edition of the Press Freedom Index, published by the Reporters Without Borders. As such, press freedom in India is currently comparable to that of the occupied Palestinian territories, the UAE, Turkey, and Russia. Bhutan was ranked 80 in 2019, which came down to 147 in 2024, showing the biggest decline. Hong Kong and Afghanistan followed closely.
The remarkable decline of press freedom is influenced by the forceful interface of government functionaries, bureaucrats and government supported agencies. Today, many veteran journalists of the country are working at the behest of the ruling government for various reasons, which portrays a pessimistic future for other professional and dedicated journalists. Many journalists, including media proprietors, investigative reporters and news correspondents of the country, have been killed during the last decades, during the BJP regime.
Journalists were killed by the mafia and goons linked with political leaders for criticising the government’s controversial policies and raising their voice against the government-backed organised corruption.
The dominating policy of the ruling government on the fourth pillar of democracy is demoralising ethical journalists on one hand, and is fuelling the mushrooming growth of news portals on the other hand.
The qualified and dedicated working journalists are concerned over the unruly growth of news portals and social media sites, wherein a sizeable number of underqualified mediaper-sons are engaged in the profession with the objective of minting money. The underqualified and untrained media persons are not only degrading the image of journalism but are also creating chaos among the public by propagating deceitful and derogatory video contents from time to time.
So, it is the right time to realise the fact that there is not a favourable atmosphere for Indian journalists to celebrate Independence Day with enthusiasm.
