A JOURNAL OF PRACTITIONERS OF JOURNALISM

RNI No: TELENG00034

he Maharashtra Media Persons andInstitutions (Prevention of Violenceand Damage or Loss to Property) Actpassed by the Maharashtra Legislaturerecently is a welcome and positive stepfor the safety of journalists in the state.It may be recalled that in the aftermath

of the murder of senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey inJune 2011 in Mumbai, the Press Council of Indiaappointed a sub-committee to go into the question ofsafety of journalists. The committee which visited 11states and interacted with about 1200 journalists rec-ommended that there was a need for a comprehensivelaw for the safety of journalists in the country with pro-visions for adequate compensation for damage to theirequipment and ex-gratia to the family of the journalistin case of murder. It also recommended for time boundinvestigation and trial by a special court on a day to daybasis and to be completed within one year. The investi-gation and trial should be monitored by the PCI.

Even though the Maharashtra Act is not compre-hensive and falls short of the expectations of the work-ing journalists in the country, it is a step forward. It isconfined to the attacks on journalists and the mediahouses and compensation for the loss of their propertyand equipment. Instead of government compensating,the onus is on the culprits which may prove to be a longdrawn and frustrating process. It also does not coverthe murder of journalists. Considering the fact that only94 percent of the cases of murder of journalists reachedfinal conclusion in the last two and half decades, this isa big lacunae in the bill. The Press Council which stud-ied the provisions of the bill at a special meeting on 31March, made a large number of recommendations to

strengthen the Act. It is hoped the Maharashtragovernment would take steps to incorporatechanges suggested by the Council by amending theAct in near future. It is time for the workingjournalists’ professional and trade unionmovement in the country to launch a campaignfor such a law at all India level.

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Jaishankar Gupta and C K Nayakwere elected President and GeneralSecretary of the Press Association on

31 March. The election was held at thePress Club of India. Shishir Soni andAnand Sharma were elected Vice-President and Joint Secretary. J C Vermawas elected Treasurer.

The five members, who were electedto the Executive Committee are: SantoshThakur, Anil Dubey, Srinand Jha, KayBenedict and Vivek Saxena. HumaSidique was the lone woman who wasco-opted to the Executive Committeeunanimously. The new committee hastenure of two years.

Jaishankar Guputa is the BureauChief of Deshbandhu, a Hindi newspa-per. Nayak is a Special Correspondent ofThe Shillong Times.

The 50- year old Press Association isthe only organization representing corre-spondents of the print media accreditedto the Government of India through thePress Information Bureau.

The outgoing President RajeevRanjan Nag and the General SecretaryHarpal Singh Bedi along with formeroffice- bearers and Executive Committeemembers formally handed over charge tothe new committee over a small function.They wished all success to the new com-mittee and extended their cooperation.

Jaishankar and NayakPres and Gensec of Press Association

New team at the Press Association

Insi

deAP JournalistsVow to Fight

Accept Argumentbut not Intolerance

4Journalists areCrusaders for Truth

Photographs areInformation withConfirmation

The Ghazi Attack

24

THE LAST PAGE30

16

8

12I've been

a tyrant tomyself:

Rahman

7

APRIL 20174

By D Somasundar

housands of jour-nalists from thenooks and cornersof thirteen dis-tricts of newAndhra Pradeshdescended onVijayawada, adja-

cent to the upcoming capital Amaravati,to voice their resentment against intran-sigent attitude of the State governmenttowards the problems of the journalists.The venue of the Andhra PradeshJournalists Convention jointly organizedby Andhra Pradesh Union of WorkingJournalists (APUWJ), AP ElectronicMedia Association, AP Photo JournalistsAssociation and the AP NewspaperEmployees Federation on 8 April, theSiddhartha Academy Auditorium couldnot accommodate the surging mass ofjournalists and large number of them hadto stand outside in the sprawling groundsof the premises.

The journalists from print and elec-tronic media sent a strong message to theState government and media manage-ments that their patience was thinningout and if their problems were not solvedimmediately, they would come out onstreets to achieve their legitimate and

just demands. Senior editors and unionleaders exhorted the working journaliststo fight for their rights and said other-wise their problems would go on mount-ing without any solution.

The Convention attended by aboutfour thosuand journalists, passed thirteenresolutions on their demands, such ashealth insurance, house sites and imple-mentation of the wage board recommen-dations to all the working journalists andother media employees. The Conventiondemanded the Union government toappoint a Media Commission to go intoissues of all the platforms of the massmedia including print, electronic andweb. In a separate resolution, theConvention demanded that the WorkingJournalists Act should be amended tobring the electronic media journalistsinto its purview. N Dharma Rao,President of the APUWJ presided overthe convention.

Inaugurating the Convention, veter-an Editor and former General Secretaryof the Andhra Pradesh Union of WorkingJournalists (APUWJ), C Raghavachariexhorted the working journalists to fightnot only for their wages, service condi-tions and safety but also to preserve thefreedom of expression. He said due tothe continuous struggles of the workingjournalists' movement in the country, thefirst Press Commission was appointedand following its recommendations, theWorking Journalists Act was brought andWage Boards came into being at regularintervals. He said the Press Council ofIndia, a statutory body to preserve anddefend the freedom of the press, cameinto being on the recommendation of thefirst Press Commission.

Raghavachari said the AndhraPradesh Union of Working Journalists(APUWJ) founded in 1957 was in theforefront of the working journalists pro-

HISTORIC RALLY IN VIJAYAWADA

AP JOURNALISTSVOW TO FIGHTT

Veteran Editor C Raghavachary inaugurating the Journalists Convention in Vijyawada on 8 April. A galaxy of senioreditors from print and electronic media and leaders of the APUWJ are seated on the dais.

APRIL 2017 5fessional and trade union movement inthe country. "The IJU came into being tofight against the undesirable trends inworking journalists' movement. Theleaders of the APUWJ played a promi-nent role in its creation and in strength-ening it," he recalled. "Due to corporati-zation and foreign direct investment inthe media, monopoly tendencies arecreeping in threatening the freedom ofexpression and the diversity of opinionsin the country. It is very dangerous andthe working journalists' movementshould fight unitedly against such ten-dencies," he said. He congratulated theAPUWJ for organising such an impres-sive Convention, once again proving itsorganizational ability and strength.

In his message, former MLA andEditor of Prajashakti daily, P Ramaiahcalled on the working journalists to unit-edly fight for their demands. The Editorof Visalaandhra M Prasad called on thosewho left the union due to variety of rea-sons to come back into the fold of theAPUWJ. He said the problems of thejournalists could be solved only throughunited struggles. NTV news channel

Editor N Bhaskar and Gemini Newschannel Principal Editor C Sai spoke onthe problems faced by the electronicmedia journalists which penetrated up toMandal level in the state.

I News channel In-put Editor Srihari,AP Electronic Media AssociationPresident C Janardhan spoke on issues ofsecurity of jobs, statutory wages andwelfare of the working journalists fromall the streams of the media should unit-edly fight. Visalaandhra Editorial BoardChairman E Nageswara Rao, Sakshinewspaper Andhra Pradesh ResidentEditor R Dhanunjaya Reddy, AndhraJyothi Vijayawada Edition In-chargeUmamaheswara Rao and others alsospoke.

Leaders pledge to continue the fightThe leaders of the APUWJ and IJUvowed to continue their fight in defenseof the rights of the working journalistsand for their welfare. They said machi-nations of the some to break the unionfailed in the past and would fail in futureand the time tested APUWJ, founded 60years ago, would continue its journey

and its fight on issues concerning thejournalists.

In his presidential address, NDharma Rao said it was not proper forthe head of the state government to beimpatient when issues and problems ofthe journalists were brought to his notice.He warned that the government wouldpay very heavy price if it considered thepatience of the union as its weakness. Hesaid the union always strived to con-tribute its mite for the overall develop-ment of the state.

Addressing the gathered journalists,APUWJ General Secretary I V SubbaRao explained at length the efforts of theunion to solve the problems of the jour-nalists. He said the union never hesitatedto clash even with the Chief Minister inthe case of implementation of theAccident Insurance for the journalists.He expressed his anguish that severaljournalists died for lack of health cardsand insurance. "When the APUWJshowed placards listing their demands ata public meeting of the Chief Minister,the I&PR Commissioner in an unprece-dented action spoke to some manage-

A section of the audience at the historic Convention

APRIL 20176

ments to dismiss those who showed plac-ards. It did not deter us and we continuedour fight and achieved our demands," hesaid.

"We are not afraid of the anger of theChief Minister. We are not against thegovernment nor are we in favour of thegovernment. We are an independent pro-fessional and trade union organisation.Our attitude depends on issues," SubbaRao said. He said that the Union wouldforward the resolutions and decisions ofthe Convention to the Chief Minister andother ministers. Based on their responsethe Union would decide its future courseof action, he added.

Ambati Anjaneyulu, Vice-Presidentof the Indian Journalists Union (IJU),explained the historic struggles of the

newspaper employees in Vijayawadaunder the banner of the union. He saidthe union successfully re-opened severalclosed newspapers in the state. FormerPresident of APUWJ, D Somasundarsaid the Chief Minister claimed that thestate was first in all aspects but he shouldexplain why it was lagging behind in thewelfare of journalists. "WhenChandrababu Naidu was in opposition,he admitted that in his first term he didlittle for welfare of the journalists. Hepromised to extend welfare measures tojournalists if came back to power. Butafter coming back to power, he forgotabout it and continuing his old policies,"Somasundar lamented.

IJU NEC Special Invitee AlapatiSuresh Kumar demanded that the

government should amend the WorkingJournalists Act to bring electronic mediajournalists into its purview. He urged onthe Union Government to appoint a anew media commission to study thechanges that came in media sector due totechnical advances and issues of regula-tion should also be studied. IJU NECmember D Atchuta Rao, APUWJ DeputyGeneral Secretary K Jayaraj, Vice-Presidents Ramalinga Reddy, P Ramu, MSrirama Murthy and others also spoke.APUWJ Secretries B Akkulappa, GRghu Ram, K V Bhaskar Reddy, AJayaprakash and Treasurer A V SrinivasRao also paticipated.

(The writer is a former President of APUWJ)

P Ramiah, Editor, Prajashakti

I V Subba Rao, General Secretary Somasundar, former President of APUWJ

M Prasad, Editor, Visalaandhra Ambati Anjaneyulu, Vice-President, IJU

N Dharma Rao, President

APRIL 2017 7RASHTRAPATI TELLS STUDENTS

AcceptargumentBut notIntoleranceIndia's campuses are known for theirliberalism, confluence of various thoughtsand ideas. Let there be debate, disagree-ment and dissent but not intolerance.

midst the raging debate overgrowing intolerance in the coun-try, President Pranab Mukherjeeonce again reiterated the needfor free speech and embracingliberal ideas in order to create a"sensitive and alive citizenry".Addressing the 52ndConvocation of Indian Instituteof Management (IIM) Calcuttaon 1 April, he said "Institutionsmust allow an atmosphere offree debate, discussions and dis-sent but not conflict and con-frontation. The atmosphereshould be free from violence,not just physical but also

mental."Invoking Nobel laureate

Amartya Sen, Mukherjee saidIndians may be argumentativebut can never be calledintolerant. "India's campuses areknown for their liberalism, con-fluence of various thoughts andideas. Let there be debate, dis-agreement and dissent but notintolerance," he said.

"I am ready to accept argu-ment, but cannot acceptintolerance, President PranabMukherjee said “India is alwaystolerant; let 100 ideas blossomin universities and let there bedebate, but not confrontation,"he added. He also said that uni-versity campuses should be freefrom not only "physical vio-lence" but "mental violence" aswell.

At a time when the allega-tion against the ruling dispensa-tion at the Centre was that it wasoften intolerant towards oppos-ing views, the PresidentMukherjee stressed on the needto accept criticism of others."India is the land of Buddha and

Gandhi. We accept, absorb andembrace but never reject any-body," he reminded the students.

The President said that inancient India, seats of higherlearning such as Nalanda,Vikramshila and Taxila attractedmighty minds from all over theworld and truly became a con-fluence of civilizationalthoughts and ideas.

He quoted Gandhiji as say-ing "I do not want my house tobe walled in on all sides and mywindows to be stuffed. I wantthe cultures of all lands to beblown about my house as freelyas possible. But I refuse to beblown off my feet by any". “Ifour feet are firmly on theground, we will not be blownoff by ideas from outside. Indiais a land of tolerance,” he said.

The President said that hehad been repeatedly emphasiz-ing that institutions of higherlearning in our country shouldfind their place in the top globalrankings. He was happy thatnow a couple of institutions arefinding their rightful place.

APresident Pranab Mukherjee at the IIM Calcutta

APRIL 20178

Press Council of India Chairman Justice C K Prasad addressing a national seminar on‘Ethics in Contemporary Journalism’ in Hyderabad on 16 March

JUSTICE PRASAD SAYS

ress Council of India chairman Justice C.K.Prasad has described journalists as crusaders fortruth. Speaking at a national seminar on "Ethicsin Contemporary Journalism" organised byTelangana State Union of Working Journalists(TUWJ), Press Club of Hyderabad, VeteranJournalists Association and Media EducationFoundation India (MEFI) at Hyderabad on 16March, he stressed that journalists were bound tobe in conflict with the government authority untilan ideal state came in to being. Chairman of theMedia Education Foundation India (MEFI) KSreenivas Reddy presided over the seminar.

"Journalists are crusaders for truth. They arebound to come into conflict with the governmentand the authorities. I am of the opinion that ifthere is no conflict between journalists and gov-

ernment, that day perhaps will be the saddest dayfor the democracy," Justice Prasad said.Elaborating on the point he went on to say, "Irequest the media fraternity to be in conflict withthose in power. I am opposed to the idea of a cor-dial relationship between media, authorities andgovernment until an ideal state `Ram Rajya' isestablished. We do not know how many years wehave to wait for that," he said.

The PCI chairman also advised the scribesnot to use their profession to indulge in corrup-tion or to use it as a shield to get away with con-sequences of wrong doings. Condemning thejournalists who misuse their profession for per-sonal gain or business, he said "They are misus-ing the tag of journalist as shield to get away fordoing illegal acts and blackmail. They are not

PJournalists areCrusaders for Truth

APRIL 2017 9

journalists in true spirit." He said credibilitywas a weapon in the hands of journalists andadded, "When you lose credibility, you arelosing your weapon and become vulnerable.I advise you to guard it."

Justice Prasad called for a statutory codeof conduct for the journalists and mediahouses. He said, "If there is no code, no statu-tory guidelines, you are more vulnerable.You are exposed to the whims and fancies ofothers. If it is codified you will know whatthe legal position is. What is misconduct andwhat is not," he said. He appealed to themedia fraternity and journalists unions toreview their opposition to the codification ofthe conduct for journalists.

He opposed the employment of journal-ists on contract basis and said it would not begood for independent journalism. The PCIChief said the existing contract system ofemployment in journalism was not helpingthe profession and added on the contrary thesystem was affecting the right to free expres-sion. "In contract system the services of thejournalists depend on the whims of theemployer. According to me, the contract sys-tem does not help the profession as a whole.Even if they are in contract, they must becovered by the Working Journalists Act,"Justice Prasad said.

Speaking at the seminar, senior editorand member of the Press Council, C KrishnaPrasad, said the journalists should emulatethe example of Mahatma Gandhi, who editeda large number of journals and wrote exten-sively on all subjects of his interest. He saidmisreporting was not a new phenomenon andBritish media attributed comments to Gandhi

he never made. He said the present day reportage did not

distinguish between a fact and a claim. "Theuse of the word allegedly is minimum intoday's stories. This way, we easily brandinnocent youth as terrorists, even before theyare convicted. Radia tapes had also presentedso many examples of the rampant practise ofentertaining paid news in media which istotally opposed to the ethics of a journalist,"he said.

Krishna Prasad said powerful people ingovernment at centre and states were makingunsubstantiated and derogatory commentsagainst the media and journalists and theywere reported without challenging theuntruths in them. He said, "A minister at thecentre called the journalists presstitutes. ThePrime Minister himself branded them as'news traders'. But nobody challenged thesecomments by exposing the untruths behindthem. Even the journalists unions were silenton such issues."

The President of Indian JournalistsUnion (IJU), S N Sinha lamented that thecontract employment of journalists wasagainst the letter and spirit of the right tofreedom of expression and freedom of thepress. "You cannot report independently andtruthfully if you are not sure of your job. Youwill know tow the views of your manage-ment," he said. He called for strengtheningthe Working Journalists Act and for extend-ing to all working journalists and editors inwhichever form of news media, electronic,print or web they are working in," he said.

He said most of the misreporting was tak-ing place in the electronic media as the gate

Krishna Prasad Prakash Dubey S N Sinha K Sreenivas Reddy

K Amarnath

G S Varadachary

Amar Devulapalli

APRIL 201710

keeping had crumbled due to real timebroadcast of the news. "Whatever is saidgoes on the air without verification. Thatis why the electronic media is losingcredibility. But the print media, whichhas time to check facts and put the reportin perspective, still commands respectand credibility," he said.

Senior editor and General Secretaryof Editors Guild of India Prakash Dubeysaid if the media lost its moral authority,the democracy in our country would bein danger. He said role of the editorshould be strengthened to safeguard eth-ical journalism and service to the ofvoiceless millennium.

K Amarnath said that it was sad tonote that the space for the contrary viewswas shrinking in the news columns andair space. "These days most of the news-papers and news channels do not coverthe statements made by the journalistsunions on professional issues and trans-gressions of the governments on the free-dom of the media and expression. Theydo not even cover the statements issuedby the Press Council," he said.

He said the Indian Journalists Union(IJU) was in forefront in raising issues ofconcern to the journalists and the mediascene in the country. "Whenever anattack takes place against journalists, weare the first to raise the issue and drawthe attention of the Press Council forsuitable action. We are the first to raisethe issue of paid news, which is eating

into the vitals of ethical journalism.Unfortunately, the editors do not allow itto appear in the media," Amarnath com-plained.

Amar Devulapalli, Secretary-General of Indian Journalists Union(IJU) introducing the subject of the sem-inar said even though ethical standards injournalism were coming down alongwith other spheres of the society, every-thing was not lost. Inspite of all its faults,the Indian Media was still serving thecause of the people and the democracy.He introduced the speakers.

Presiding over the seminar, KSreenivas Reddy, a senior editor andChairman of the MEFI, called for a newmedia commission to go into wholegamut of issues involving the media inthe country. He said three factors wereaffecting the functioning of the media inthe country. They were attitude of gov-ernment, conflicts between manage-ments and editors and increasing attackson journalists. He said it was time tobring the electronic and web mediaunder the supervision of the PressCouncil of India.

TUWJ General Secretary Virahath Ali felicitatingPCI Chairman at the Seminar

Press Club Hyderabad President Rajamouli Chary and GeneralSecretary Vijaya Kumar Reddy presenting a memento to CK Prasad

PCI Chairman Justice Prasad releasing a CD of 90 years of Triveni. TriveniFoundation Managing Trustee Dr Y Sridhar Murthy is also seen in the picture.

APRIL 2017 11

PCI Chaiman at a photo exhibition of veteran editors at Press Club Hyderabad.

Earlier the Press CouncilChairman Justice C K Prasadreleased a CD consisting of all theissues of the 'Triveni' a quarterlyjournal of culture and literaturefounded in 1927. He commendedthe steadfast resolve of the pub-lishers for bringing out the maga-zine uninterrupted for the last 90years. He also visited the photoexhibition of the eminent Telugueditors. The Managing Trustee ofTriveni Foundation Dr. Y SridharMurthy was also present.

President of the VeteranJournalists Association G SVaradachari also spoke. PressClub of Hyderabad PresidentRajamouli Chary welcomed theguests while the General Secretaryof the Telangana State Union ofWorking Journalists (TUWJ)Virahath Ali proposed a vote ofthanks. Press Club and TUWJleaders felicitated the PCIChairman and members.

APRIL 201712

nion Minister forInformation &Broadcasting MVenkaiah Naidu said

that photography as a communi-cation tool was an influentialmedium to spread awareness andensure Good Governance.Photographs along with socialmedia had been a potent combi-nation in today's digital world.The 'Selfie with Daughters' cam-paign launched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi came out to be apowerful instrument of socialchange. This way of posting pho-tos created a powerful impact onsocietal behaviour and ingrainedcultural traditions. The Ministerstated this at the inaugural func-tion of 6th National PhotographyAwards ceremony in New Delhion 22 March. Col. RajyavardhanRathore, Minister of State forInformation & Broadcasting,Ajay Mittal, Secretary I&B werealso present on the occasion.

Speaking on the role of pho-tographs as a powerful medium ofcommunication, Venkaiah Naiduquoted that "A picture is worth athousand words". They formed ameans of artistic statement thatprovided insight into the thoughtand mental makeup of the com-municator, while enabling themto transcend the limitations and

boundaries of the linguistics of awritten or spoken language, hesaid.

Elaborating further theMinister said "The photographsare a powerful language whichspeak to our emotions andbecome a part of our legacy. Thephotograph of a 3 year old deadSyrian child washed ashore on abeach changed the entire worldopinion on the Refugee Crisisthereby shaking the collectiveconsciousness of the humanity."

Speaking about the basicessence of photography, Naidusaid that there were no specificset of rules to take a good photo-graph. A photographer was notbound by technique or theory.They were free to interpret andcapture the subject the way theyliked. It was imperative to havethe right amalgamation of art,

Union Minister for I&B Venkaiah Naidu, his deputy Rajyavardhan Rathore with the awardees and members of the juryat the 6th National Photography Awards ceremony in New Delhi on 22 March.

Venkaiah Naidu presenting the Award to Raghu Rai

VENKAIAH NAIDU SAYS

Photographs areInformation withConfirmation

U

APRIL 2017 13

angle and aperture to capture and processpictures, which only came through yearsof practice, he said.

Venkaiah Naidu said his mother diedwhen he was an infant. “I cannot reme-ber her image. We do not have a photo ofher as there was no photographer in ourvillage. My relatives tell me she wasfair complexioned and tall. Lack of mymother’s photo still nags me,” he said inan emotion choked voice.

On the role of fast changing tech-nology in communication domain, hesaid that the Internet brought out theresurgence of visual image into oureveryday communication. "Digital cam-eras and cell phones with integratedcameras have generated an explosion ofimages into everyone's lives. Socialmedia has provided a new platform topeople to Share, Communicate andInform through photographs," he said.

Venkaiah Naidu conferred the LifeTime Achievement Award to Raghu Rai,Professional Photographer of the yearaward to Shri K.K. Mustafah andAmateur Photographer of the year awardto Ravinder Kumar. Venkaiah Naidu andCol. Rathore also released the brochure

of 6th National Photography Awards.Naidu along with Col. Rathore also inau-gurated the Photo Exhibition put byDAVP and Photo Division.

The theme for this year's awards forProfessional category was "SkilledIndia", while in the Amateur category thetopic was "Swatch Bharat". The jurycommittee comprised the eminent photojournalists. S.N. Sinha, former Editor(Photo) Hindustan Times was the chair-man with Dhritiman Mukherjee,Professional Wildlife Photographer,K.N. Santh Kumar, Sr. Editor andPhotojournalist, Kannada daily Prajavaniwere the members of the committee andSanjiv Misra, Photographic officer,Photo Division was Member secretary.

Raghu Rai who won this year LifeTime Achievement Award, began hiscareer as a photographer at the age of 23in 1965. In the early years of his career,he was the Chief Photographer at theStatesman and later the picture Editor ofSunday Magazine. He became the pic-ture Editor - Visualizer Photographer of"India Today" where he receivedacclaims for his series on Great Mastersof Indian classical music, Satyajit Ray

and Mother Teresa. In 1992, he wasawarded "photographer of the year" inU.S. and was conferred "officiere desArts et des Letters" by the Governmentof France. Raghu Rai has also exhibit-ed his works around the world. He con-tinues to be an associate of MagnumPhotos. He had tirelessly continued toPhotograph India through the 20thCentury and now into the 21st. He hasdone about 55 books on India on myriadthemes. He also started Centre forPhotography in 2011 to enhance andenrich creative explorations of youngIndians.

National Photography Award is anannual event organized by PhotoDivision a media unit under the Ministryof I&B. It is meant to promote art, tech-nique of photography and to encourageprofessional and amateur photographersfrom all corners of the country. Thephoto awards have been classified intothree categories, with total of 13 awards.The awards include Life TimeAchievement Award, Photographer ofthe year award in Professional andAmateur category with five SpecialMention Awards in each category.

VenkaiahNaidu andRajyavardhanRathore at thePhotoExhibition putup by thePhoto Divisionat the venue ofthe AwardsCeremony.Chiarman ofthe Jury S NSinha is alsoseen in thepicture

APRIL 201714A TRIBUTE

An Editor who foughtfor Communal Harmony

Although it is his role asa freedom fighter that isoften discussed, Ganesh

Shankar Vidyarthi'sconcern for communal

harmony, an issue herepeatedly took up in hisnewspaper, must also be

remembered.

f an attempt is ever made toselect the most courageouseditor of India of all times,it is most likely that thechoice will be GaneshShankar Vidyarthi, an edi-tor who fought British

colonial rule for 18 years at a stretchwith one foot in prison and one in hissmall office. Working on shoestringbudgets, he managed right through thisperiod (roughly from 1913 till his deathin 1931) to be highly relevant and influ-ential, his newspaper Pratap becoming aleading forum for the wider freedommovement as well as various struggles

against various big feudal and royalforces. Although he was killed at theyoung age of 41, this legendary editorcum freedom fighter cum friend of allexploited people, had achieved enoughto last several lifetimes.

Although in keeping with the mainfocus of those times, it is his role as afreedom fighter which has been mostdiscussed, this should not lead to a neg-lect of his other important concerns andefforts. Among these, perhaps the mostimportant concern for him was of com-munal harmony. He repeatedly took upthis issue in his newspaper and alsohelped several citizen efforts in this

direction, particularly in Kanpur, themain area of his work. He played a lead-ing role in forming an organisationcalled Hindustani Biradari, which organ-ised programmes on communal harmonyand joint celebrations of various festi-vals.

Vidyarthi repeatedly warned peopleagainst falling prey to communal propa-ganda. He could foresee that to divert therising tide of freedom movement, theforces of imperialism would try to helpand incite the narrow communal forceson both sides. So he wrote against thisseveral times. But even he could nothave foreseen that his own life would be

ByBharat Dogra

Freelance Journalist basedin New Delhi

I

APRIL 2017 15lost in trying to control this violence.

In the early days of 1931, the popularity of Bhagat Singhand other revolutionaries who had been imprisoned by theBritish was soaring high. In a different case, Vidyarthi wasalso in jail but he was released just a few days before thehanging of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on March 23.

These revolutionaries were very close to Vidyarthi andhad very high regard for him. In fact, it can be said that amongall Congress leaders, Vidyarthi was probably closest to them.Given his high organisation capability and his mass base, itwas very likely that Vidyarthi would have mobilised perhapsthe biggest opposition against the hanging of Bhagat Singh,Rajguru and Sukhdev. Keeping this in mind, the colonialregime instigated one of the worst communal violence inKanpur around the same time that the three revolutionarieswere executed.

As Vidyarthi had himself just come out of jail, he did notget enough time to mobilise people against this possibility.However, once the flames of violence started burning, hemade very determined efforts to even single-handedly rescueas many people as he could. Due to the great respect he com-manded among Hindus and Muslims, he was one person whocould venture into the muhallas or colonies of both commu-nities to rescue people. People saw him rescuing peopleincluding women of both communities from difficult situa-tions.

It was in the course of these repeated efforts that at somestage he was stabbed and killed. His dead body was recoveredmuch later after about two days so the exact time and cir-cumstances of his death remain uncertain, but there are indi-cations that following the death sentence given to BhagatSingh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, instructions had been given bycolonial rulers to also eliminate Vidyarthi as he was seen as abridge between the revolutionaries and the Congress, a manwho was capable of radicalising Congress along a moreuncompromising path and equally capable of organising astrong resistance against the hanging of Bhagat Singh,Rajguru and Sukhdev.

This view is supported in an interview with his daughterVimla Vidyarthi who has recorded what she and her motherhad heard at that time from others. This interview was con-ducted by Suresh Salil who has edited and compiled the col-lected works of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi. Vimla has statedthat her father had successfully rescued some Muslim womenbut then immediately got involved in rescuing some trappedHindus, and at this stage he got attacked and killed. Vimla hasstated that she sees the killers not as rioters but as personsguided by colonial rulers. She has recalled a well-informedaunt stating that weapons are being distributed in severallocalities and it is being said that the 'Lion of Kanpur' will bekilled today (Kahat hai ki Kanpur ka sheru mara jai). Ofcourse the 'Lion of Kanpur' reference is to Vidyarthi. The con-cluding observation of Vimla is that the killing of Vidyarthiwas a part of the same conspiracy which led to the hurriedexecution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.

A COMMON POINT

LET'S LAUGHA LITTLE

e are a jovial nationwith our own genreof humour. We havesardarji jokes whichwe don't hesitate to

crack in front of a sardar. We havehumour based kavi sammelans. Thisis a nation with super hit comedymovies and comedy shows havinghighest TRP ratings. We are also anation which realises the beneficialeffects of laughter, look at all laugh-ter therapy clubs.

We had great cartoonists like RKLaxman and others humouring the nation at the cost of manya political leader and making a point on very serious subjectsthrough satire. It's good that many of present day newspapersstill have some space for cartoons and satire.

Same cannot be said about our news channels. There aresome comedy bits and cartoonish shows about politicalevents. We should commend these irrespective of quality andcontent.

But why can't we have humour in news? There are manynews clippings which would elicit a laugh. Why these arebundled and telecast as part of bloopers at the end of the yearshows.

Let's laugh at these, every day, in every bulletin and everypublication. One story, however trivial it may be, can be madea part of the news. In fact it would appeal to the sensitivitiesof the people easily if it's coated with humour. We have seencinema doing it, coating sensitive subjects with comedy, suc-cessfully too.

BBC world news is one channel which does it regularly.It may be a clipping or even a pic or a story which has goneviral on the social media. A few seconds of this has an effecton the reader or the viewer. In fact the serious subjects wouldbe given more attention when we are exposed to little humour.

I would like to see our media doing it regularly, not as asegment but as part of the news. The difference is people havea better choice for humour and comedy than news. So if wecan have a little laughter in our news it will go a long way ingrabbing attention of people to more serious subjects, whichis what we want.

Laughter will reduce stress and in turn contribute for gen-eral health. Also a little humour would make the mood of thepeople a little jovial I turn a happy society.

So let's laugh a little!

A Media Observer

GopireddyMadhusudan

Reddy

W

APRIL 201716 17here is something desolate about Dubaiat 6 a.m. on a Saturday. The high-risesof Business Bay look like a dinnerparty after all the guests have gonehome, and there's a strange industrialmorning light on the roads. Around thecorner from my hotel, I have a meetingwith composer and singer A.R.Rahman. I know from previous experi-ences that early is par for the coursewith Rahman.

"I thought I'd work through thenight and meet you, but I was reallytired, so I slept," he says. The previousnight, he played to an audience of over25,000 in Sharjah. He's travelling withabout 100 people - crew and musicians."I love the quietness of night. There areno meetings, so you can work through,have breakfast and sleep. Because Ihave early morning prayers, I feel likethat time between five and six in themorning is very important. There'sgreat energy in that time. After 8 a.m.,I don't know what to do. Then itbecomes this active office time foreveryone, so whenever I'm awake peo-ple bring me stuff to sign."

Firing on all cylindersAs we speak, Rahman frequently looksto his phone to show me stills frommovies and clips of music videos. Heplays something sung by his son. Thevoice is pure and beautiful. "I did thisfor myself, but then Mani Ratnamwanted it." I ask when it will be out."Oh, that was two years ago. My son'svoice is changing now." He does animitation of an adolescent boy's voicecracking. I apologise for my craters ofmusical ignorance. He shrugs. He'salways looking to the new. He oncedescribed his creative energy to me as akind of madness - several cylindersworking simultaneously to conceiveand realise projects.

His latest project is his directorialdebut, a virtual reality (VR) film calledLe Musk, shot mainly in Rome. "I was

possessed. When I think about it, Iwonder, really did it happen, did I dothat?" There's also a bilingual film inpost-production called 99 Songs, andwhat he calls his "bread and butterthing," composing music for other peo-ple - Sridevi's Mom, Shankar's 2.0,Gurinder Chadha's Viceroy's House, apiece for the Seattle symphony. The listgoes on.

"Twenty-five years, I've been mak-ing music. After a while, there's a limi-tation in the vision. It's the same thing- love song, sad song - and I feel like itcan go much deeper, though it's diffi-cult. The tried-and-tested path is easyand successful, but I want to see whatis there other than this? What can youdo artistically rather than formulaic

stuff. So I've been a masochist, a tyrantto myself, trying to see what the possi-bilities are."

He tries explaining the latest VRtechnology to me; how it is a stereo-scopic and sensory experience, whichincludes smell. There's a full-motionchair, Positron's Voyager, "It's like awhole new door opening." After awhile, he gives up on the act of describ-ing. "I'll show you in Chennai," hesays, understanding that it's an experi-ence that needs experiencing. He seestechnology as something to be con-quered.

Tech freakRahman got his first camera when hewas 13. Now, he has 45 cameras, rang-

ing from the costliest to the cheapest.In December, when I was performingwith the Chandralekha group, he hadsuggested shooting the dance perform-ance with a drone. Where does thisease with technology come from? "It'sreally a fascination that started in child-hood. My father was the first one to getthe synthesizer in south India, so whenhe passed away I had all these big toys.Even as a kid, I could play on them,pressing every node and switch. It waslike a luxury, a music showroom. Sothat pushed me to what next, what next.It keeps you alive."

He tells me being south Indian iskey to his identity. He attributes hisintroverted nature to his South Indian-ness, and also offers it as an explana-tion as to why he used to wear T-shirtsto award ceremonies. "I didn't knowyou had to dress up," he laughs. Tamil,of course, is the base of his musicalexplorations, but mixed with his eclec-tic influences and collaborations, hehas taken his music far beyond the nor-mally intransigent Vindhyas to audi-ences around the globe. In life, he maybe an introvert, but in work he assuresme, he is bandmaster.

I ask Rahman whether he consid-ers himself conservative. "Me?" Hepauses. "I like to follow the code thatcomes from generations of faith andculture. I feel it protects us and gives ussanity. So, in lifestyle, I'm conserva-tive, yes, but not in thinking. That wasdemolished long back, all the walls,because for me, spirituality fuels thethought that there's no limit. You cando whatever you want, but don't createconfusion in the world. For me, art issomething that has to keep challenging.That's the thing about any creativity.Whether it's the design of a computer,or a piece of art, or a song, it's to hideall these complications you've facedand make it look simple. But when yougo closer you realise it's not as simpleas it looks."

I'VE BEEN A TYRANT

TO MYSELF: RAHMAN

Twenty-five years, I'vebeen making music.

After a while, there's alimitation in the vision.

Rahman displaying his Oscar Award

TAs we speak,

Rahmanfrequently looks

to his phone toshow me stills

from movies andclips of music

videos. He playssomething sungby his son. The

voice is pure andbeautiful.

ByTishani Doshi

INTERVIEW

APRIL 201718

epression and falling mentalhealth especially amongyounger generation havebecome common and thetendency is evident acrossdifferent sections of popula-tion. Students, teachers,

popular artistes, renowned authors and evenpoliticians become victim of this syndromeunder many circumstances. Worst things hap-pen when depression and mental conditionled one to commit suicide. Publicity andmedia coverage of suicide is a sensitive issuewhich is hardly discussed and practiced undergeneral media ethics. Media coverage of asuicide may trigger copycat suicides amongpeople suffering from depression for similarreasons. In 1774, Goethe's The Sorrows ofYoung Man Werther, a novel where the herocommits suicide due to a failed love affair,

was banned in many European countries. Itwas perceived to be responsible for imitativesuicides in many places across Europe. Thelargest possible copycat effect found was forthe well known movie star Marilyn Monroe.During the month of her suicide in August1962 there were an additional 303 suicides.On the other hand a section of researcherswho study the relationship of media coverageand suicides opine that responsible mediacoverage on suicide decreases the incidents ofsuicides. The way in which suicide is report-ed appears to be particularly significant.Some isolated studies that suggest reportingthat depicts suicide as a tragic waste and anavoidable loss, and focuses on the devastatingimpact of the act on others, has been linked toreduced rates of suicide. AmericanFoundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)and a number of other organizations engaged

ByGeetartha Pathak

The author is senior journalist based at

Guwahati. He is also theVice-President of IndianJournalists Union (IJU)

DEthics & ResponsibilityA section of researchers who studied the relationship of media coverage and suicides opine that responsible coverage decreases the incidents of suicides.

MEDIA COVERAGE OF SUICIDES

APRIL 2017 19

in prevention of suicide worked out a setof dos and don'ts for journalists in sui-cide coverage. Apart from the issue ofthe effect of media coverage of suicide,media's involvement and focus on thecauses that mentally disturb many sensi-tive minds should be debated in mediaoutlet and forums.

In this we will discuss two distinctcases of suicide in India - Kalikho Pul,the former Chief Minister of ArunachalPradesh and Dalit PhD student at theUniversity of Hyderabad Rohith Vemula.Vemula committed suicide on January17, 2016 after he was suspended andbarred from the hostel by the Universityauthority for protesting along with otherAmbedkar Students Association (ASA)members against death penalty to YakubManon , who was involved in 1993Mumbai bombings. ASA also protestedagainst attacks on the organizers ofscreening of a documentary onMujaffanagar riots in Delhi Universityby Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP).

The suicide of Rohith Vemula waswidely published in mainstream mediaand also went viral in social media andother digital forums. However our so

called mainstream did not adequatelycovered the incident of suspension ofVemula and other four PhD studentsbelonging to ASA from the University ofHyderabad by the University authorityunder alleged intervention of UnionHRD Minister at the instances of ABVP.All this post-suicide hue and cry in themainstream media could have beenavoided had they had the integrity toreport on the event and question what

was happening when the five Dalit stu-dents were suspended. University ofHyderabad has a reputation of discrimi-nating the Dalit students. At least 10Dalit students committed suicide in thisUniversity during last few years. The sit-uation has not improved in post suicide

of Vemula. The educational campuseshave been radicalized to spit hatred andcultivate intolerance. Higher educationalinstitutions like a university, which hasto provide space to grow critical minds,have become a space of prejudice. Therecent incident in Ramjas College inDelhi is indication that the divisiveforces are pampered by their powerfulpolitical masters to build up an ambienceof fear and hegemony over all dissenters.

Journalism is all about changing thesociety by leading it to the right directionfocusing on malfunctioning of the polity,deprivation and discrimination of mass-es.

The suicide of former ArunachalPradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul on

The recent incident in Ramjas College inDelhi is an indication that the divisive forces

are pampered by their powerful politicalmasters to build up an ambience of fear

and hegemony over all dissenters.

Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul and Hyderabad Central University Research Scholar Rohit Vemula (File pictures).

APRIL 201720August 9, 2016 was a shocking news. More shocking isthe contents of his 60-page dairy which can be construedas a suicide note, where the former Chief Minister raisedserious allegations of corruptions and breach of trustagainst senior politicians of Congress and BJP, judges ofSupreme Court and their relatives. Apart from levelingcorruption charges against judges, the note allegedlylinked former Chief Minister's suicide to the July 13,2016 judgment by a five-judge SC bench which rein-stated the dismissed Congress government in Arunachaland, in the process, pulled down the state governmentheaded by Kalikho Pul.

Pul brought serious allegations of corruption againstthe present Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy ChiefMinister Chowna Mein of the BJP led government ofArunachal Pradesh. In his sixty page note typed in Hindicaptioned "Mere Vichar" named several senior centralCongress leaders who allegedly sought money from himfor political favour. The first wife of Pul has demandeda CBI inquiry against SC judges for bribery and corruptpoliticians on the basis of the allegations made by Pul inhis note. The mainstream media gave coverage of thenote left by Pul, however the internet and social mediajudiciously highlighted and analyzed the contents on thePul's note and also followed up the developments. Thesympathizers and relatives of Pul have demanded thatthe current Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, PemaKhandu, and his deputy, Chowna Mein, immediatelystep down. However the NDA government has not takennote of it seriously and no action so far has been taken.The media controlled by the big business houses havenot felt it necessary to focus on the issues raised in thenote in a proactive manner. A section of media obliterat-ed some of the names, portfolio and addresses of someof the political leaders and judges that reveal their iden-tities mentioned in the Pul's note for fear of litigation.

One of the sensational suicides that shocked theworld was that of Robert Budd Dwyer, an Americanpolitician in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania inJanuary 22, 1987 in full pubic view. With the mediagathered to hear what they believed to be his resignationafter a conviction of bribery and fraud, PennsylvaniaState Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer, put a gun in his mouthand pulled the trigger on live television. Later on therewere hot discussion on his plea of innocence in USmedia and finally it was revealed that he was partly avictim of a conspiracy.

Media, therefore, should carefully cover the suiciderelated stories adhering to the established journalisticnorms, but at the same time media should also neutrallyanalyze the background of such drastic act of self inflic-tion of an individual and focus the social malaise behindsuch tragic incidents. Media should also be a part of thestakeholders in the justice delivery system to the victimwithin its own ethical ambit.

The Chief Justice of Bombay high court on 29 Marchrapped journalists for not maintaining the "decorum ofthe court", after a journalist was spotted wearing a T-shirt

and jeans. Referring to the journalist clad in question, ChiefJustice Manjula Chellur asked whether it is a part of 'Bombayculture' to wear such clothes while covering the court proceed-ings.

The judge then turned to the counsel for Mumbai civicbody, S.S. Pakale and asked him if there was any dress code forjournalists. After Pakale responded in the negative, JusticeChellur wanted to know if wearing such attire to court wasappreciated. The lawyer again responded with a "No". Thecourt, however, did not pass any direction or guidelines on dressjournalists should wear while covering court proceedings.

As per court rules, a common man visiting the court isexpected to be dressed properly as per existing social norms andnot wear any obscene clothes. The top judge also chided thejournalists for their coverage of the recent resident doctors agi-tation wherein media organisations had cited oral observationsthat were made in court rather than just reporting the final courtorder.

Some former judges of the Bombay High Court agreed withChief Justice Chellur on the dress code issue. Justice BNSrikrishna said, “I completely agree with the Chief Justice as itis her court and she has the power to ensure that decorum ismaintained.” However, Justice VG Palshikar said that the ChiefJustice should not lay down a dress code for people attendingher court.

Bombay HC CJ Frowns onScribe`s attire

APRIL 2017 21

Janasanyog/16/17

APRIL 201722

By Prashant Reddy

Thikkavarapu

The author is a ResearchAssociate at

School of Law, Singapore Management

University.

Judicial gag on MediaIt is rather ridiculous to equate the reputation of three lawyers with that of theentire judicial institution. However, absurdity seems to be the order of the day.

t is the same old story, with different actors.Men accused of sexual harassment seekingjudicial gag orders against the media report-ing on the allegations against them. This hashappened in several different cases startingwith that of Justice Swatanter Kumar who hasbeen accused of sexual harassment, followedby Asaram Bapu who is facing criminal trialfor rape and of course, Rajendra Pachauriwho has been accused of sexual harassmentby several of his former employees.

Of these three, only Justice SwatanterKumar managed to procure a gag order on thebasis of the Supreme Court judgment in theinfamous case of Sahara India Real Estate v.SEBI. In this order, the Supreme Court basi-cally legitimized, under its contempt powers,'prior restraints' on reporting by the press,thereby restraining speech even before it hastaken place.

The Supreme Court dressed up its orderby calling it a mere postponement of freespeech in order to protect a person's right to afree and fair trial i.e. after the conclusion of

the legal proceedings the media could reporton the case. Just to be clear, legal proceedingscan take up to 20 years in India.

Fast forward to 2017: same script, differ-ent actors. The men in question were advo-cates of the Orissa High Court and the womanwas an Inspector of Police working in theCrime Branch of the state police. Accordingto the judgment of the Orissa High Court inthis case delivered on February 17, 2017, thecontroversy broke out when the advocatesmisbehaved with the woman inspector by"leaning against her" in the elevator.

The police registered a FIR against theoffenders. The matter was reported by the freepress and eventually it was the turn of thelawyers to claim they were victims of distort-ed reporting by the press.

The lawyers then did what lawyersalways do - they filed petitions before theHigh Court claiming that the allegedly defam-atory reporting against the three advocateswould bring down the reputation of not justthe lawyers but also that of the High Court as

ODISHA HIGH COURT ACTIVISM

I

APRIL 2017 23

an institution. It is rather ridiculous toequate the reputation of three lawyerswith that of the entire institution.However, absurdity seems to be theorder of the day.

Further, arguing that the reportingwould adversely affect the rights of thethree lawyers to have a fair trial, theHigh Court was requested to pass a gagorder. The counsel for the government,which is in charge of the police, submit-ted “that the Government does not pro-pose to impose any restriction on thereporting of the incident by the Press, butleaves it to the Court to pass suitableorders, after considering the facts of thecase".

The government counsel then madesubmissions in a personal capacity.Apparently, while this gentlemanbelieved deeply in the freedom of thepress, “he is deeply concerned with thereputation of the lawyers in general andthe institution in particular and if suchkind of reporting is permitted, then (asthe incident had occurred on the premis-es of the High Court) the reputation ofthe institution would also be broughtdown and damaged" and according tohim "it is the duty of the Court to inter-vene and issue necessary directions to

restrain such kind of reporting".Given the overall bonhomie in the

courtroom and with the governmentcounsel bending over backward to pleasehis comrades in black gowns, it came asno surprise when the judges hearing thecase came to this heart-warming conclu-sion on the greatness of the bar and thebench:

As such, if the allegations, withoutbeing verified, are made against thelawyers, it would definitely bring downthe reputation of the Institution as awhole and also of the lawyers, as a com-munity. We say so as lawyers are officersof the Court and the Court cannot func-tion without the assistance of thelawyers. Thus, we are of the firm opinionthat if the reputation of the lawyer com-munity is at stake, it would definitelyamount to the reputation of the Judiciaryas a whole being at stake.

The judges then cite many a memo-rable precedent and legal maxims, espe-cially the decision in the Sahara case, toreiterate their legal authority to gag themedia. After satisfying itself of itsomnipotent powers, the judgment reach-es a crescendo where the court passes thefollowing order restraining the media….

from further publishing or highlight-

ing the allegations against the lawyers asa whole, or the Advocates against whomallegations have been made in the com-plaint, or the informant, or the HighCourt as an institution, in any form with-out disclosing in the headlines of the arti-cle that they are mere allegations againstsuch party in their write up or telecast.The said opp. Parties [the media] are fur-ther restrained from publishing and tele-casting the names and photographs of theaccused persons or the informant, whichmay suggest the actions of the advocatesrelating to the said allegations made bythe informant.

This injunction is then followed witha list of caveats stating that the post-ponement order is temporary till the nextdate of hearing and that it would notrestrain the media from reporting on thecourt cases itself provided the reportagefalls within the ambit of fair reporting.

Of course any violation of this ordercould lead to the lawyers filing a con-tempt petition against the media andtherein lies the problem. Unsure of theboundaries of fair reportage and facedwith a hostile bar and a complicit benchthe media will simply self-censor.

Game, set, and match for thelawyers. (Courtesy The Hoot)

APRIL 201724

India's first underwater filmdrowns under its weight

THE GHAZI

ATTACK

ByShalini Langer

ll people associated with this film are law-abiding citizens.” Yes, films have come tothat now. The Ghazi Attack starts with thisdisclaimer, before going on to declare thatits intention is not to outrage or offend any-body, that it doesn't in any manner supportthe expressions used by its characters, andthat it makes no claim to historical accuracy.

Pakistan must be relievedAmong other things, the film's lead protago-nists make fun of, and then decide to ignore,higher-ups over decisions such as attacking

enemy ships that could start a war. "Really,you are that kind of a soldier?" scorns CaptRann Vijay Singh (Menon, hamming to hisheart's content), advocating a responseinstead that would gladden many a Trumpheart.

The words "surgical strike" don't getmentioned, but that may only be because, asthe promotions point out, this is India's firstunderwater war film. Borders are harder totell on sand, even as Indian and Pakistanisubmarines indulge in quite a death dance -bobbing up and down sea depths.

At the centre of the story lies themysterious sinking of Pakistani submarinePNS Ghazi during the 1971 war. The film

“A

MO

VIE

REV

IEW

APRIL 2017

projects it as an INS Rajput vs PNS Ghazisubmarine battle - which is disputed - andcalls it an Indo-Pak war you don't knowabout.

There are stories within stories, and sothere is the aggressive Capt Singh, thepragmatic officer Arjun (an impressiveRana Daggubati), Singh's loyal second-in-command Devaraj (Atul Kulkarni) andtwo measly Bangladeshi refugees (includ-ing Taapsee Pannu) plucked from the seaby the brave Arjun himself.

While Singh and Arjun are playingout their power games, with Singh repeat-edly mocking Arjun and his "politicalmasters (including Om Puri, as the headof the Eastern Naval Command)", PNSGhazi is quietly making its way to the Bayof Bengal. The Navy gets a clue aboutPakistan's designs, and sends in S-21 (INSRajput) submarine to "just keep a watch".Which Singh - toting 'War As I Knew It'by American General George S Patton -dismisses as stupid, for brave soldiersmust attack on sight.

Clearly, some amount of effort has

gone into understanding the makings of asubmarine, running of a ship, and evenfiring of torpedoes and laying of land-mines at sea. The film doesn't cut cornerson underwater shots of ships damaged,leaking, hissing and sputtering as theyturn leeward and starboard, even thoughthe first shot of Singh and Arjun firstheading out to sea is Titanically fake. Atthe same, all Naval soldiers are unshaven,unkempt, and sweat at the possibility ofgoing food-less for a day. A snarlingRahul Singh plays Pakistani captainRazzaq with as much dishevelled splen-dour.

You know how a film that strategical-ly deploys - literally - Jana Gana Mana,Saare Jahan Se Achcha and the Tricolourwill end. But for a while, The GhaziAttack shows us glimpses of a crisis-at-sea film it could have been.

However, there are too manyPakistanis to slay, and too many torpedoesto fire, to care for niceties. In all, eight-odd are fired, two-odd hit. What happenedto the other six? Who is counting?

25

A still from the film

Rana Daggubatiand Kay KayMenon film couldhave been anengrossing crisis-at-sea dramabut the film is sobusy slayingPakistanis that itloses sight of itscore strengths.

APRIL 201726

BO

OK

REV

IEW

UnderstandingDemonetisationPrime Minister Narendra Modi managed to sell his idea of

demonitisation that he means well, says the veteran journalistand former editor of EPW C Rammanohar Reddy in his book.

Author of the bookC Rammanohar

Reddy

By V Geetanath

veryone kept asking me when I was going towrite a book, but for a journalist, who is usedto writing about 800 to 1,000 words, it istough, though some think otherwise! I didn'tknow if I had anything to say," says the soft-spoken and venerable former economics editorof The Hindu, in a freewheeling conversationon why he bit the bullet.

That was when the demonetisation happened! "It was new, suddenand the scale of the event was huge," he points out. He later had sever-al conversations with former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) GovernorY.V. Reddy on the issue and wanted to collaborate on a book before thelatter advised him to do it alonesince he was busy with his memoirs.

"I was taken aback. We had dif-ferent perspectives when the idea ofbook had come about. It has been ajoint effort and he went through themanuscript and made several sug-gestions," recalls Dr. Reddy, analumnus of IIM (Kolkata) andCentre for Development Studies,Thiruvananthapuram, about his firstand just launched Demonetisationand Black Money published byOrient BlackSwan.

In his own words: "I have beencareful not to make any predictions.We do not know how it is going topan out, but we know it has causedgreat distress to different strata ofsociety and don't know if anothersuch step is in the offing. Though it'snot my area of expertise, there weretoo many opinions, misconceptionsand analysis being bandied about."

Financial inclusionHis book is an effort to explain

Save for an occasional newspiece ever sincehe quit as editorof Economic &Political Weekly(EPW) last year,C. RammanoharReddy has been enjoying hisretirement inHyderabad withhis wife andschool-going son.Writing a bookwas not even thelast thing on hismind.

‘E

APRIL 2017 27

what demonetisation was about, itsobjectives in controlling blackmoney, counterfeit currency, wind-fall to the RBI, money into Jan Dhanaccounts and the likes. "We alreadyknow it's not going to control blackmoney, we do not know how it willlead to financial inclusion as thegovernment has been silent about it."

The RBI may not be in for awindfall as was talked about as"there could be more money thanexpected coming into the system".He is not only puzzled about peoplebearing with the hardships withoutany protest, but also about the gov-ernment not forthcoming about thenext step to tackle the parallel econ-omy.

"It's interesting how people didnot react and put up with the diffi-culty - whether it was a politicaldecision or an economic one, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi managed tosell his idea that he means well,"avers Dr. Reddy.

Giving the circumstances, hethinks the banks managed the crisesfairly well. "They seemed to havecoped up well, working overtime andon weekends even if there have been

aberrations of a few officers gettingexposed when huge amounts of newnotes were seized or when theyavoided putting money in ATMs pre-ferring to disburse to prime cus-tomers," he says. But Dr. Reddy is ascurious as anyone about the hugedatabase generated through depositsand with the tax authorities. "Theyalready had a lot of data on hightransactions, but what will they dowith more data coming in, we haveto see if it leads to harassment," is hispithy comment. Even while accept-ing that large sections of the societywish to avoid tax payment, he urgespeople to look at the scenario of ahonest taxpayer being worried about"paying tax and being hounded".

Also, he wonders why nothinghas been done to tackle illegal stashin the financial sector through shellcompanies where it was much morethan it is in real estate, cash or gold.The best part of demonetisation isthat banks have huge amount ofmoney that they have to lend even ifthey are scared of vigilance probesas that's what the banking sector isabout, he adds.

(Courtesy The Hindu)

No ban onHartals: SC

The Supreme Court on 31 Marchrejected to entertain a PIL thatalleged that political organisations

were resorting to hartals to deceive repeat-ed judicial pronouncements banning strikeand bandh calls, which hampered normallife. A bench of Chief Justice J S Kehar andD Y Chandrachud said, “Hartals can neverbe unconstitutional. Right to protest is avaluable constitutional right”. Having failedto convince the bench to entertain the PIL,the petitioner decided to withdraw the plea.

The Kerala High Court in a case hadsaid that the calling of a bandh involves the

restriction of freemovement of the cit-izen and his right tocarry on his avoca-tion and if the legis-lature did not makeany law either pro-hibiting it or curtail-ing it or regulating itthen it is the duty ofthe court to step in toprotect the rights ofthe citizen so as toensure that freedom.However, over theyears, the courtshave not clarifiedthe differencebetween strike,bandh and hartal.

Our Constitutionprovides for theRight to Protest soas to make citizensmore aware and vig-ilant and not toaccept anythingblindly. It’s not at allwrong to fight forwhat it’s worthprovided we do notcross the line.Individuals need tohave a sense of

confidence and courage to stand and speakup against the corruption prevailing.

Chief Justice Kehar

Justice Chandrachud

APRIL 201728

GlobalInitiative To fightFake News

Fake news became a serious issue in the U.S. election campaign, when clearly fraudu-lent stories circulated on social media, potentially swaying some voters. Concerns havebeen raised since then about hoaxes and misinformation affecting elections in Europe.

ech industry leaders and academic organisationscame together in $14-million effort to promotenews literacy and build trust in journalism

A global alliance of tech industry and aca-demic organisations unveiled plans on 3 April inWashington to work together to combat thespread of "fake news" and improve publicunderstanding of journalism. The NewsIntegrity Initiative will launch with $14 millionfrom Facebook, the Ford Foundation, Mozillaand others, based at the City University of NewYork (CUNY) journalism school, which willcoordinate research, projects and events.

"We want to bring the conversation past justtalking about media and to bring the public in,"said Jeff Jarvis, who heads CUNY's Tow-KnightCenter for Entrepreneurial Journalism."We wantto go beyond the fake news discussion and get towhat I hope is a flight to quality."

Fake news became a serious issue in theU.S. election campaign, when clearly fraudulent

stories circulated on social media, potentiallyswaying some voters.

Concerns have been raised since then abouthoaxes and misinformation affecting electionsin Europe, with investigations showing how"click farms" generate revenue from onlineadvertising using made-up news stories.Facebook and Google have stepped up efforts toroot out misinformation, Jarvis said, adding thathelping the public understand the differencebetween fraudulent news and serious journalismwould constitute an important element of theeffort.

"We have to equip the public with bettertools and better discussions," he said.

The initiative's mission is "to advance newsliteracy, to increase trust in journalism aroundthe world and to better inform the public con-versation," a statement said.

The founding funders include Facebook andthe Craigslist founder Craig Newmark's philan-

WAR AGAINST THE FAKE

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APRIL 2017 29thropic fund along with the Ford Foundation,the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation,the Tow Foundation, AppNexus, Mozilla andBetaworks. Campbell Brown, a former NBCand CNN journalist hired early this year tohead the Facebook news partnerships team,said the social network is looking at the issue"holistically".

Team work needed"We think news literacy is a global concern. Itis important for people to be able to identifymisleading news content, be discerning aboutthe news that shows up on Facebook andeverywhere else," she said. "This is not aproblem that we could ever solvealone."Facebook and Google have alreadytaken steps to cut off advertising revenues tonews sites promoting misinformation.

Facebook has also ramped up efforts toflag news stories that may be false, and haslaunched a "journalism project" that aims tosupport the news ecosystem. "We have tolook at this globally, so we are going to besupporting a lot of organisations around theworld addressing the challenges," Brownsaid.Facebook joined the project as part of itseffort towards "helping people make moreinformed decisions when they do encounterfalse news," she said.

Partners include Arizona State University,the International Center for Journalists, theNews Literacy Project, the Trust Project, andthe public relations group Weber Shandwick.

In Europe and AsiaDenmark's Constructive Institute at AarhusUniversity is also taking part, along with theEuropean Journalism Centre in theNetherlands, the Colombia-based FundacionGabriel Garcia Marquez para el NuevoPeriodismoIberoamericano, the HamburgMedia School and Hans-Bredow-Institute inGermany, the Polis media department at theLondon School of Economics, France'sSciences Po university, the Hong Kong-basedSociety of Publishers in Asia, the WalkleyFoundation in Australia, Wikipedia founderJimmy Wales and UNESCO.

In February, a group of 37 French andinternational media outlets, supported byGoogle, began "CrossCheck" a fact-checkingplatform aimed at detecting fake informationthat could affect the French presidential elec-tion.

Bill to ProtectJournalists passedIn a first of its kind move in the

country, the MaharashtraLegislative Assembly on 31

March passed a much-anticipatedbill seeking to protect journalistsand media houses from attacks, withprovisions for three years' imprison-ment and/or penalty.

All attacks on the media andmedia houses in the state shall nowbe treated as a "cognisable and non-bailable" offence, which shall betried by a First Class JudicialMagistrate. It had been a long-stand-ing demand of media persons inMaharashtra.

Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis introduced the bill, titled"Maharashtra Media persons andMedia Institutions (Prevention ofViolence and Damage or Loss toProperty) Act, 2017", in the assem-bly. It was passed without any dis-cussion in the absence of the opposi-tion parties on the last day of thebudget session of the legislature.

The new act has been widelywelcomed by media persons, mediagroups and institutions, besides theopposition parties in the state.

According to its comprehensiveprovisions, any person committing,abetting, instigating or provoking

any violent act against media per-sons or media houses shall be pun-ished with up to three years' jail termor a fine of Rs 50,000, or both.

A police officer not below therank of a Deputy Superintendent ofPolice (Dy.SP) shall investigateoffences committed under this actagainst media persons or mediahouses, says the bill. The offendersshall be liable to cough out compen-sation for the damages or lossescaused to the property of the mediapersons or media houses, as decidedby the court, and shall have to reim-burse the medical expenses incurredby the media persons.

The bill has clearly defined "amedia institution" as "any registerednewspaper establishment, newschannel establishment, news-basedelectronic media establishment ornews stations".

A "media person" has beendescribed as a person whose princi-pal vocation is that of a journalist,who is employed on regular or con-tract basis, including editor, newseditor, sub-editor, reporter, corre-spondent, cartoonist, newsphotographer, television camera-man, leader-writer, feature writer,copy tester and proof reader.

MAHARASHTRA FIRST

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ongratulations to the Maharashtra Governmentfor taking the lead in enacting the first ever lawin the country to protect the media and journal-ists, who have been paying a heavy price forupholding their right to "free and fearless report-ing" of news and views. The Maharashtra MediaPersons and Media Institutions (Prevention ofViolence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act,2017, adopted by both the Houses of the State'slegislature early this month, covers all journal-ists and media organizations and makes theattacks on journalists and media establishmentspunishable with both fines and jail terms. TheAct, however, also penalizes its wilful misuseby journalists or media organizations.

The Indian Journalists Union (IJU), thestrongest organisation of working journalists inthe country has all along been demanding such alaw to provide security to the journalists. Inpartly conceding our demand, the StateGovernment has undoubtedly earned our grati-tude. We have been concerned for years aboutthe increasing incidence of widespread violenceagainst journalists in State after State in cynicaldisregard of the norms of civilized behaviour byboth law-breakers and law-enforcers, stateforces and anti-state terrorists. We have longbeen urging the Government to not only takeurgent steps to provide adequate security to thejournalists at all levels but also to make theattacks on media persons and organizations a“non-bailable offence”, besides making statuto-ry provisions for the grant of adequate compen-sation to the victims and their next of kin incases of serious injuries, disablement and fatali-ties.

India has had a dubious distinction in sofaras the safety of journalists is concerned. Wehave a strong, independent and vibrant mediabut, we have also been labelled one of the mostdangerous areas for the journalists. In 2012,India was dubbed the second most dangerousplace for working journalists; in 2014, its rankwent up to the fourth most dangerous area and itis still considered a very dangerous place forthem. "Reporters Without Frontiers (RSF)", aninternational organization, said recently that as

many as nine journalists had been murdered inIndia in 2015, some of them for reporting organ-ised crime and its links with politicians and oth-ers for covering illegal mining. "Their deathsconfirm India's position as Asia's deadliestcountry for media personnel, ahead of bothPakistan and Afghanistan," RSF said. As perUNESCO, on average, one journalist dies everyfive days in the pursuit of his/her profession.From 2006-2014, the print media has the mostcases of killed journalists with 40% of the vic-tims. Television comes second with 28% whileRadio represents 21% of the victims. Theremaining statistics are 6% for Web-based jour-nalists and 5% for journalists active on multipleplatforms.

The IJU is disappointed at the negativeresponse of the Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of India, to the recommendation ofthe Press Council of India for a special law forthe safety and security of journalists on thegrounds that the existing laws were enough inthis regard. The Maharashtra Government, how-ever, has honoured the assurance it had madefollowing the dastardly assassination of theleading journalist J. De over a couple of yearsago and enacted this law. The IJU also invitesthe attention of the Union and all State govern-ments to the UN General Assembly resolutionasking its member states to enact special legisla-tion for the protection of journalists. As pointedout by the IJU on innumerable occasions, thejournalists face threats to their life and limbfrom not only the various mafias but also terror-ists and sometimes even security forces,throughout the country, more particularly in sen-sitive areas. The Union government shouldenact a central law to ensure the safety of themedia persons and the payment of adequatecompensation to their families in case a tragedybefalls them.

Somewhere down the line, we appear tohave lost the essence of what the Press was sup-posed to be. The first Prime Minister of IndiaJawaharlal Nehru had once said, "I would ratherhave a completely free press with all the dangersinvolved in the wrong use of that freedom thana suppressed or regulated press." In a world fullof incendiary speeches, flaring tempers and hurtegos, and terms like sickular, presstitute and lib-tard littering social media timelines, it is perhapstime to step away from the madding crowd andappreciate or at least recognise the contributionof journalists who have laid down their lives tokeep this pillar of democracy firm and strong.

THE LAST PAGE

ByS N SINHA

President, IndianJournalists Union

CONGRATSMAHARASHTRA!

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