Gagging press freedom
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: February 01, 2013 -

"Let it be impressed upon your minds, let it be instill into your children, that the liberty of press is the palladium of all the civil, political and religious rights…", thus wrote Junius in one of his Letters.

Junius was the pseudonym of a writer who contributed a series of letters to the 'London Public Advertiser' published by Harry Sampson Woodfall from January 21, 1769 to January 21, 1772.

Although Junius made the reference in the context of ensuring 'civil, political and religious rights of Englishmen', this particular quote must have been reproduced an umpteen number of times by advocates of free speech around the world to drive home the point of importance of free media in any human society over the centuries.

But the question of how free is media in discharging its duty continues to haunt the mind of the journalists all over the globe and the debate over media censorship and control by the State authorities remains raging.

And this is more particularly so in India which is supposedly the 'world's largest democracy'.

Even if there is no explicit fundamental right which guarantees freedom of press or media in India, still, through a series of rulings, the Supreme Court has held that freedom of press or media is a part of the fundamental rights of the citizens to 'Freedom of Speech and Expression' espoused under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India.

But then, the exercise of this 'freedom' is again subjected to the so-called 'reasonable restrictions' as enumerated under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

These restrictions are said to have been placed in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.

Thus, practically, there is no scope for media to function in an environment free from interferences not just from the State authorities but also from various non-State actors.

That is all about 'free media' that we know of in India today. And this harsh reality of media operation in the 'world's largest democracy' has only been reconfirmed from the latest 'Press Freedom Index-2013' published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French-based International non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of press and rights to information.

In its annual assessment of the countries' press freedom records, RSF has placed India at the 140th position in a list of 179 countries.

This is a slide down of nine places from the previous year's record and the lowest since 2002 because of increasing impunity for violence against mediapersons and unabated internet censorship, which have been intensified particularly in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, although the Indian authorities have publicly deny censorship accusations time and again.

Most interestingly, India's position in the 'Press Freedom Index-2013' has vindicated the general assumption that 'democracies provide better protection for the freedom to produce and circulate accurate news and information than countries where human rights are flouted'.

So sad.