The Hindu Business Line : Assault on the media

In recent days two instances have cropped up regarding assault on the media by the government of the day in two different places (in two different countries in fact) which suggest once again that press freedom cannot be taken for granted and that those who cherish it must always be on their guard to snuff out attempts at encroachment.

The first occurred in Nepal where the Maoist leader, Prachanda, warned the media that "his party" would no longer tolerate any criticism from the press because "we have already been elected by the people."

The second instance is the institution of a case of "sedition" against a national daily in Ahmedabad by a senior policeman, the charges reportedly stemming "from a series of investigative reports questioning the alleged links" of the officer in question "with a mafia don and his (consequent) ability to guarantee security in the city."

FREEDOM, DICTATORSHIP

There are two aspects involved here regarding the subject of freedom and dictatorship, which need to be focussed on if only because the people at large need to be kept primed against attempts to control freedom of expression by those in power, irrespective of whether it is elective or administrative.

The Nepal Maoist leader said quite clearly that criticism would not be accepted because the people had voted the Maoists to power. What this in effect means is that once someone is "elected" to the seat of power, the media, or a part of it, ceases to be the voice of the people.

Logically, this does not make any sense because the "people" comprise both winners and losers and the new government in Nepal is expected to look after the interests of both in as fair a manner as possible. On the contrary, the very principle of debate and discussion has been attacked, which exposes a totally unacceptable streak in the new rulers of Nepal.

In the Ahmedabad case, it is clear that there is utter confusion in the minds of some people about representing the government and being the government itself. According to the dictionary, sedition is conduct or speech inciting rebellion against the state.

`LIMB OF THE LAW'

As the most elementary textbooks will tell us, the police apparatus of the nation is not equivalent to the law of the land, the latter being an integral part of republic's Constitution. In fact, the police is no more than "the limb of the law".

So the charge of sedition against someone who has probed the links of a particular member of the police force with certain wayward elements in society is too farfetched to merit serious consideration as a sedition charge.

The central point of concern, however, is the presence of such a mindset within the nation's police force, which is not only unacceptable in a Constitutional set-up such as ours but is also positively dangerous in view of the fact that people with such mindsets wield tremendous power in Indian society by virtue of their official position.

As the Editors' Guild of India has said: "Sedition is a charge which was slapped on the Indian media by the colonial rulers during the freedom struggle. Abuse of the sedition provision against the media negates the freedom granted to the citizens by the Constitution."

Admittedly, there can be no points of similarity between the Nepal Maoists and Indian police officers because they are two different breeds owing allegiance to two different things altogether, the first a social ideal and the other the Indian Constitution.

But intolerance is the seed of dictatorship which needs to be extirpated the moment it is discerned in any form in our society.

RANABIR RAY CHOUDHURY

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