a jOurnal Of practitiOners Of jOurnalisM Vol.1 No. 5 Pages ... · a jOurnal Of practitiOners Of...

a jOurnal Of practitiOners Of jOurnalisM

RNI No: TELENg/2017/72414

he decision of the Karnataka AssemblySpeaker K B Koliwad to jail for oneyear Ravi Belagere of Hai Bengaluruand Anil Raju of yelahanka Voice forcritical articles on some MLAsincluding himself, is undemocratic,unjustified and an attack on the

freedom of expression. It is strange the Speakerdelivered judgment in a case he is a complainant. It isa settled law that decision of the Assembly on its ownprivileges is justifiable in a court of law and we are sureappropriate court will sit in judgment over this decisionalso. But question that begs an immediate answer is,can the Assembly gag the press when it calls theelected representatives to account? If the logic ofSpeaker Koliwad is accepted, there can never be anycriticism on the actions of the elected representatives.

The legislators have certain privileges so that theycan function and legislate for common good of the peo-ple and an orderly functioning of the civil society. Theyare also granted immunities such as they cannot beprosecuted even for libel and contempt of court fortheir speeches on the floor of the house. It never pre-cludes them from the scrutiny of the forth state, thepress, for their actions inside and outside the house.Recently President Pranab Mukherjee rightly observed“Media must be the watchdog, the mediator betweenthe leaders and public. It must raise and create aware-ness and hold public institution accountable to all itsactions or inactions." The press is mandated to raiseissues, to call those in power to account and be thevoice of the voiceless millennium. Critical reportagecannot be labelled as contempt of the house. The prob-lem arises when the legislature assumes the role of the

complaint, prosecutor and the judge. Even aftermore than six decades of democratic governance,the privileges of the legislatures are yet to be codi-fied. It gives a lot of scope for overreach. It is timedemocratic opinion exerts itself for the codifica-tion of Legislative Privileges so that it bringsclarity to the situation.

Whose privilege?

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EADER'S

VIEWRThe Scribes News brought very good

articles in the june issue.

Particularly the speech of Rashtrapati

Pranab Mukherjee delivered at Ramnath

goenka memorial lecture is both timely

and illuminating. His call for the media

to continuously articulate and highlight

the ‘enormous inequalities’ the people of

the country are facing ‘in order to ensure

they are addressed by those who govern’

is a timely reminder to the media of its

role, which is, of late drifting away from

the role assigned to it in a democratic

society.

I am also impressed by the report on

the speech of Kerala governor justice

P Sathasivam at a seminar at

Thiruvananthapuram in which he warned

the journalists not be carried away by the

market forces and urged them to ensure

truthful and ethical reporting. His obser-

vation that the first obligation of the

press is to the people should be emulated

by the journalists. Please keep it up.

— Prasanna Mahapatra

Bhubaneswar

Keep it up please!

Good articles

The Scribes News is catering to the

needs of the working journalists

in the country by highlighting the

issues that are confronting the profession

of journalism. Articles published in the

magazine are useful for media profes-

sionals and students of journalism. The

lay out and the design are eye-catching.

— D Krishna Reddy

Warangal

4

8

16

Inside

Raids on NDTV:

Attack on Media

Advertorialsedging outEditorials

MP Minister unseated for 'Paid News'

Captures bitsof Manto'ssoul

Freedom and Privilege

The Idea ofIndia

under Siege

20

32

22

The Last Page 34

An eyewitnessto an Epoch

28

july 20174

A view of the meeting at Press Club of India premises in New Delhi on 9 June to express solidarity with NDTV .

Attack on Media Speakers said it was reminiscent of Emergency. Prannoy Roy denied anywrong doing on his and Radhika’s part and demanded time-bound probe.

Raids on NDTV:

t was a moment of solidarity for

the media. Hundreds of

journalists, led by eminent edi-

tors, gathered on the lawns of the

Press Club of India on 9 june to

discuss the fall out of the recent

raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation

(CBI) on the premises of the owners of NDTV

- Prannoy and Radhika Roy.

The meeting was organized by the Press

Club of India in association with the Indian

Women Press Corps (IWPC), Indian journalists

union (Iju), Duj and other media organisa-

tions. Veteran editors like Kuldeep Nayar, H K

Dua, noted jurist and senior Supreme Court

lawyer Fali S. Nariman, eminent columnist S.

Nihal Singh and former Indian Express Editor,

economist and former union Minister Arun

Shourie were among the speakers who said that

investigation against NDTV was reminiscent of

the attack on freedom of press during the

Emergency. Prannoy Roy denied any wrong-

doing on his and Radhika Roy's part and

demanded time-bound probe.

"It is a signal to all of us: We (the govern-

ment) can suppress you even if you haven't

IBy

S Vinay KumarThe writer is a senior

journalist and Presidentof Press Club of India

july 2017 5done anything wrong," Dr. Roy said.

While Nariman explained the legal

position, Nayar, Shourie, Nihal Singh

and H K Dua were of the opinion that the

government was undermining free

speech and intimidating the media which

reminded them of the Emergency days of

the then Prime Minister Indira gandhi 42

years ago.

"Similar signs are visible now. Here

also there has to be a nationalist press, a

nationalist judiciary, a nationalist

bureaucracy… unless we do something

now, unless we are united, we will meet

the same fate" H K Dua, former Editor

of the Hindustan Times and the Indian

Express, said.

Eminent jurist Nariman said given

that press freedom was guaranteed under

the Constitution, any media company or

journalist under criminal investigation

by the government or government agen-

cies must be given a chance to respond

before raids are carried out on them.

It was Shourie who was the star

speaker at the two-hour event, often lac-

ing his speech with poetry and anec-

dotes. A critic of the Modi government,

Shourie gave a call for greater unity

among journalists.

"They (BjP government) have made

NDTV an example. This will intensify in

the coming months because of the nature

of the regime - its genes are totalitarian,"

Shourie said.

Sounding a note of caution, the for-

mer minister in the Vajpayee government

said: "Anybody who has tried to lay a

hand on the press in India has had their

hand burnt."

Shourie said: ``you should redouble

the work that is annoying the govern-

ment. The guarantee to you that you are

on the right track is that the government

is annoyed with what you are finding

out. Aroon Purie used to have a slogan

that said, ‘News is what the government

wants to hide, everything else is propa-

ganda’. you should excavate that.

“In the end please remember that we

have only three protections. One is our

solidarity. Second is the courts.

Therefore give great prominence to

every step by the government to

undermine the judiciary, it is very neces-

sary. Third is the protection of our very

own readers and viewers. So use Twitter

to inform the governments, but do not

become Twitter handles yourself.

``you must go into the depth of facts

of those issues which are of life and

death to the reader so that when the hand

is raised against you, the readers feel the

hand is raised against them.

``And finally, I believe that a year

will not pass now that it will become

almost impossible to acquire and dissem-

inate information through mainstream

channels or media. Therefore, it is very

important that all of us turn to the young-

sters who have the mastery of hacking,

of bypassing government censors, of

using the Internet creatively to acquire

and disseminate information. If the

Chinese can bypass the Chinese state,

then certainly we should be able to do it.

So set up some groups of Indians here or

abroad to bypass the censorship of the

Prannoy Roy speaking at the meeting. Arun Shourie, Fali Nariman, H K Dua, Nihal Singh and Kuldeep Nayar are also seen in the picture.

july 20176government.

``And if finally, they are able to

control everything, don't despair.

Because as I said, firstly, everything

passes, but also, when they control the

media completely, then the people will

see the great difference between what

they are being made to swallow and

what is happening in their own lives.

And this government which worships

cows will be left holding dead cows,''

Shourie said.

In a report on her website theciti-

zen.in, senior journalist Seema Mustafa

said: ``Many of the speakers referred to

the Emergency when the press was cen-

sored by the government, and journal-

ists like Kuldeep Nayar sent to jail.

Black days indeed. But there was again

little reference to the new reasons

between 1974 and 2017 that have cur-

tailed the media and taken away our

freedom. The political-corporate-media

nexus that has cripplied its functioning

as well. The contract labour system,

where hundreds of journalists are fired

in one stroke by television channels and

big media houses. The government is

party to these mass lay-offs but remains

silent, as do the journalists for fear of

falling foul of managements, not getting

the money owed to them, and being

seen as too irreverent by potential

employers who also, after all, come

from the same side of the fence.''

Senior journalist and chairman of

India Today group Aroon Purie in a

message also expressed solidarity and

criticized efforts to intimidate the

media.

Eminent journalist and chairman

and publisher of The Hindu, N Ram in a

message from London said "freedom of

expression which has come under pres-

sure must be safeguarded at all cost."

The CBI, he said had acted on "false

private complaint by a discredited indi-

vidual on matter going back nearly a

decade is a crude attempt to suppress

Indian news television most independ-

ent and trusted voice -NDTV". Senior

journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, in a mes-

sage said silence is not an option and

everybody should question the raids on

NDTV.

What after Speech? Edited excerpts from the speech of eminentjurist Fali Nariman at the Press Club of Indiato express solidarity with NDTV on 9 June.

We citizens enjoy freedoms that

are not enjoyed in most

places in the continent of

Asia. I did not realise this until a few

years ago when my wife and I attended

the Commonwealth Law Conference in

Kuala Lumpur. One of the delegates was

a retired judge of Malaysia's court of

appeal, and he addressed a crowded hall

of over 1,000 delegates in the presence

of the then prime minister, Mr Mahathir,

who as you all know was not exactly a

liberal.

The retired judge said in a loud

voice - "Our written constitution guaran-

tees freedom of speech"; loud applause.

Then after a long pause he added - look-

ing towards his prime minister -"But it

does not guarantee freedom after

speech!"

Freedom after speech - that is really

what freedom of speech is all about.

Never forget this. you are allowed to

speak, speak as much as you like, but

there is a fellow waiting there to nab you

and put you in so you can't speak again.

That is the protection we are asking for.

Let me make one thing clear. No one

is immune from being prosecuted for a

criminal offence - not any of you, not I,

not Prannoy Roy, not NDTV. We can all

be prosecuted.

But the manner and circumstances

and the so called justification of the CBI

raids on NDTV (much publicised there-

after) do give me reason to believe that

all this (these raids and the FIR filed by

the CBI) are definitely an unjustified

attack on press and media freedom.

When there is a single-party majori-

tarian government as there is in the pres-

ent day (as there was it must be remem-

bered in the years when Indira gandhi

was Prime Minister and for a while

when Rajiv gandhi was also Prime

Minister) - a similar situation had pre-

vailed and there were similar attacks on

the freedom of the Press.

The press and the media supported

by an independent judiciary are the only

safeguards to an open democracy.

Again the question as to what has all

this to do with the Press generally - it all

pertains only to NDTV? - is the sort of

query to which one of the most effective

answers was given long long ago.

It was in a poem written by a

german priest Martin Niemoller and it

was about the cowardice of german

intellectuals following the Nazis rise to

power and subsequent purging of chosen

targets group by group. This poem is

now enshrined in the Holocaust

Memorial Museum in New york:

"First they came for the

Communists, and I did not speak out -

Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Trade

unionists, and I did not speak out-

Because I was not a Trade unionist.

Then they came for the jews, and I

did not speak out-

Because I was not a jew.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left to speak

for me."

Nariman speaking at the Press Club

july 2017 7

ja

na

sa

nyo

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/17

july 20178

Freedom and PrivilegeThe then Congress MLA and now Karnataka Speaker K B Koliwad raisedan issue of privilege against the two editors alleging that their articleswere defamatory to all the legislators and they should be punished.

By

K Amarnath

he freedom of the press and

journalists are under attack

again. This time from the

Karnataka Assembly. The

Karnataka assembly Speaker K B

Koliwad on 22 june endorsed the recom-

mendations of its Privileges Committee

and sentenced editors of two Kannada

tabloids, Ravi Belagere of Hai

Bengaluru and Anil Raju of yelahanka

Voice a year in jail and a fine of ten thou-

sand rupees each for articles critical of

some legislators of Congress and BjP.

Ironically, the Speaker himself was a

complainant in the case, when he was a

mere MLA.

The articles which offended the

legislators were published during the life

of previous Assembly, in 2013 and 2014.

The then Congress MLA and now

Speaker K B Koliwad raised an issue of

privilege against the two editors alleging

that their articles were defamatory to all

the legislators and they should be pun-

ished. The then Speaker Kagodu

Thimmappa, now a minister, referred the

issue to the Privileges Committee.

Report came up before the Assembly on

22 june and MLAs of Congress and BjP

demanded that the journalists should be

punished for 'defaming' the legislators.

r K Karanjia case

It is not the first time that the writings

critical of the legislators and parliamen-

tarians landed the journalists in trouble.

But it is a first instance when the jour-

nalists are sentenced to long prison term

and a fine. In 1961, Blitz Editor R K

Karanjia was summoned to the bar of the

Lok Sabha and reprimanded for an arti-

cle that appeared in Blitz allegedly

defaming an opposition stalwart, j B

Kripalani. When he was summoned

before the Privileges Committee of the

Parliament, Karanjia stood by his story

and refused to apologise. He was repri-

manded and the Parliamentary Pass of

Blitz New Delhi Bureau Chief A

Raghavan was revoked.

Keshav singh case

Then came the Keshav Singh case in

1964, which threatened to snowball into

a Legislature versus judiciary confronta-

tion. Keshav Singh a political activist

and editor of a small news magazine in

legislature Vs press

T

july 2017 9gorakhpur in uttar Pradesh published reports alleging corrup-

tion against Congress MLA Narsigh Narain Pandey and

distributed the article as a pamphlet in the premises of the uttar

Pradesh Assembly. A privilege motion was moved and an unre-

pentant Keshav Singh was sentenced to eight days in jail by the

Assembly.

He moved the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High

Court and a two judges Bench stayed the order of the House

and enlarged him on bail. The next day, an outraged uttar

Pradesh Assembly Speaker Madan Mohan Varma ordered the

Police Commissioner of Lucknow to arrest the two judges and

present them before the bar of the house. The judges went to

the Allahabad High Court for relief. Meanwhile, then Chief

Minister Sucheta Kripalani urged the Prime Minister

jawaharlal Nehru to intervene and bring the controversy to an

end.

At the instance of the Central Cabinet, the President

referred the matter to Supreme Court for its opinion. The

Supreme Court ruled that High Courts have the power to

review any decision of the Assembly. A year later, a two mem-

ber bench of Allahabad High Court consisting of justice j N

Takru and justice g C Mathur upheld the sentence of the

Assembly and ordered Keshav Singh to undergo the remaining

one day of the jail term. Thus the controversy was laid to rest.

Karnataka decision criticised

There was all round criticism against sentencing of journalists

for a year in jail by several national and international organi-

sations of journalists. The Editors' guild condemned the

decision as it was "gross misuse of the powers and privileges of

legislature and also violates the Fundamental Right of Freedom

of Speech and the Freedom of the Press guaranteed under the

Indian Constitution ". It further said "The right to try and sen-

tence journalists for defamation is vested with the courts of law

and the Karnataka Legislative Assembly cannot and should not

misuse its powers and privileges to conduct a trial and sentence

any member of the press for libel".

The Indian journalists union (Iju), international organisa-

tions like International Federation of journalists (IFj) and

Committee for protection of journalists also protested against

the decision and demanded that the decision should be recalled.

Even the ruling Congress government distanced itself by

saying that it has no role in the matter.

role of the speaker

K B Koliwad lodged a complainant as an MLA and then as

Speaker handed a sentence to the journalists, raising the ques-

tion of conflict of interest. One cannot be complainant, prose-

cutor and a judge. In fitness of things, the Speaker should have

recused himself and left the decision to the Deputy Speaker.

The broader question that arose is whether it is proper for the

legislature to punish journalists for critical reportage which has

nothing to do with their role within the house. If aggrieved by

any report, which they thought defamatory, they have the

liberty like any other citizen, to approach a court of law or

Press Council of India (PCI) for redressal.

If the logic of the Karnataka Assembly is accepted, there

can be no criticism of the Legislators. Even if a slightly critical

report is published against any MLA, MLC or MP the journal-

ists can be threatened with punishment for violating their priv-

ilege. This amounts to denying the press the right to question

the actions of the elected representatives and hold them

accountable. It also impinges on the right of the public to know

about the omissions and commissions of their representatives.

Importantly, the total immunity to the elected representatives

from public scrutiny would be undemocratic.

As an editorial in The Hindu pointed out, the decision of

the Karnataka Assembly "is indefensible and deserving of

unsparing criticism". It further said "Whether what Ravi

Belagere and Anil Raj, the editors of the two tabloids, pub-

lished was fair comment or unfair criticism is not germane in

this case. What matters is that by no stretch of the imagination

could the articles have impeded the independent functioning of

the three legislators who had complained against them. If the

members felt defamed, they could have opted to pursue an

appropriate judicial remedy in their individual capacity".

Karnataka Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad

july 201710Codification of privileges

The legislative privileges should not be

used to stifle criticism which is nega-

tion of the very basis of democracy.

Most of the problems for the hyper sen-

sitivity of elected representatives stem

from the fact that the Legislative

Privileges are not codified even after

six and half decades of our parliamen-

tary democracy. This demand has been

raised several times in the past by the

media, the democratic minded people

and civil society activists. As it would

tie their hand to stretch it any length,

the law makers are wary of it. It is time

the media should raise a national debate

on the issue to mobilise public opinion

to persuade the legislatures to come out

with codification of their privileges.

It is worth recalling what former

Chief justice of Supreme Court and a

pioneering judge in Public Interest

Litigation (PIL) justice PN Bhagwati

said in a case "Every organ of the gov-

ernment, be it executive, legislature or

the judiciary, derives its authority from

the Constitution and it has to act within

the limits of its authority. No one, how-

soever highly placed, and no authority,

howsoever lofty, can claim that it shall

be the sole judge of the extent of its

power under the Constitution". This

dictum should be kept in mind by all

estates of democracy including the

fourth estate.

Senior journalist Ravi Belagere

a Common point

his is my lament - how in the world can

we make our media houses actually see

the true intent of their existence - the

service that need to be providing? Who

will remind them their sacred duty towards the soci-

ety and help them see beyond profit making and

power mongering?

Five farmers were killed in police firing at

Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh - it received its due

attention from across all sections of media. Such

events make or break political fortunes. People who

know about Basheerbagh firing at Hyderabad recall

with candor that one incident which eventually

became a major rallying point for the Congress

party to come back to power in 2004 elections!

I do not question any of that coverage. In fact, it could have been much more

than mere reporting. And what could have been done better was to present and

debate about the real issues and causes that led to farmer agitation - analysis and

solutions.

We always know that many newspapers in India were and still are political-

ly aligned. This is an old story. However, there was an affiliation based on ide-

ology and was more subtle than it is now. With the advent of electronic media,

all limits of political appeasement and propaganda seems to have been crossed.

There was a procession of politicians to Mandsaur after the event. Should

we question it? Do we not live in a democratic country? Rahul gandhi, being

the leader of a major opposition party, was free to visit- whether under political

pressure or not and we will not go into the politics of Law and Order - of being

allowed or not.

News channels were quick to label it a Photo Op series and went all out to

attack him and the others who visited Mandsaur. It could have well been a Photo

Op and can be called so by his political opponents. But for the Media to preclude

and take a stance and present the story through its own subjective lens is to go

against the very grain of journalism - to be unbiased. The manner in which this

event was questioned, and intents attached to his visit was almost hilarious.

The Media needs to report it without any inherent bias and needs to follow

up reportage without any leanings of its own - neither of which was the case!

It is high time for media houses to get their priorities right and realize that

they are doing great disservice to the nation and also impacting their own cred-

ibility as well. As strong proponents of democracy, we would like a reportage

that is unbiased and non-partisan and its high time the media exercises self-

restrain and regulates itself to uphold the Fourth Estate and not be "The State".

Else, journalism of this low stature will erode the very credibility of Media

and instead we would be forced to be treated to more of tabloid than genuine

journalism. And yes, the government will then not need silly and laughable rea-

sons/excuses such as CBI conducting raids on media houses like NDTV.

GopireddyMadhusudanReddy

A Media Observer

T

How to makethem see reason

MULTIPLE ADVANTAGES OF SILT REMOVAL

n The water retention capacity of thesoil will increase there by decreasing thenumber of wettings.

n De-silting can improve ground waterrecharge and create drinking water facil-ity to cattle in the summer.

n Due to de-silting, it is observed thatin the ground water the fluoride contentis reduced considerably as per studiesconducted.

n Silt can be used as nutrient / fertilizerto the plant which generally reduces theusage of fertilizer.

n The yield of the crop is increased by20 to 30 % for cotton and chillies

PHYSICAL NUMBER WATER SOURCES

Sl. No District No of Sources

1 Karimnagar 5939

2 Adilabad 3951

3 Warangal 5839

4 Khammam 4517

5 Nizamabad 3251

6 Medak 7941

7 Ranga Reddy 2851

8 Mahaboobnagar 7480

9 Nalgonda 4762

Total 4631

n The importance of ChinnaNeetiVanarulaPunaruddharanahas been spread through wide publicity to make the pub-licaware and participate in the massive programme designed by the Government. Government could to motivate andencourage the end users for their participation explaining the Benefits of the tank to the public by various type ofmedia. The respective departments are also involvedaccordingly to publicize the benefits of the programme andimportance of people's participation.

n Minor Irrigation tanks and systems arespread over all the villages of Telangana Stateand are a Central Component of Rural ECOSystem. Their prolonged neglect over 40 to 50Years has badly effected the rural economy.

n The Government has prioritized to restore allthe MinorIrrigation tanksto their original capacityandcondition so as to effectively utilize the 265TMC of water allocated for Minor irrigation sectorunder Godavari & Krishna River basins.

n A reconciliation survey was conducted to iden-tify the exact number of all types of Minor irriga-tion sources in Telangana State. As per survey46,531 No of M.I, Small tanks, Percolation tanks,Private Kuntas and Small tanks (constructed byForest Department) were identified for restora-tion.

n The massive programme for Restoration oftanks is named as "ChinnaNeetiVanarulaPunaruddarana" under the tag line Manavooru-Mana Cheuvuprogramme is renamed as "MISSION KAKATIYA".

n The Government has planned to restore about20% Tanks every year with an eventual target ofrestoring all 46,531 tanks in 5 years, in a phasedmanner

Restoration of the tanks would involve the following components.

n Comprehensive restoration of the tank will betaken up i.e. Silt Removal & Silt Application,Restoration of Feeder Channel to the tank, Repairsto Bund , Weir & Sluices.Restoration of IrrigationChannels to enable the tail end ayacut.

MAKING IT AS A PEOPLE'SPROGRAMME

MISSION KAKATIYA PHASE-IIINo of proposals submitted to Govt 6338 Nos

Cost of Proposals Rs. 1631.00 Cr

No of tanks sanctioned 6142 Nos

Cost of Administrative Sanction Rs.1630.93 Cr

No of works called for Tender 6067 Nos

No. of works agreement concluded 5754 Nos.

No. of works Grounded 5586 Nos.

PROGRESS OF MISSION KAKATIYA PROGRAMME

PHASE -I PHASE -IINo of tanks sanctioned 8021 Nos 9006 NosCost of Administrative Sanction Rs.2498.00 Crores Rs.3137.61 CrWorks Grounded 8005 Nos 8929 NosWorks Completed 7944 Nos 5173 NosBalance works to be completed 61 Nos by July, 2017 3750 NosNo of Tractor trips for transportation of silt 4,32,59,051 2,88,18,230Quantity of Silt Transported 11,06,00,415 Cum 7,05,18,576Cum Bills Prepared Rs.1489.18 Crores Rs.966.80 Cr

MISSION KAKATIYA RESTORATION OF MINOR IRRIGATIONSOURCESA FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME OF GOVT OF TELANGANA

IDENTIFICATION OF TANKS:Selection of tanks will be done in

consultation with the District Minister/local MLA/MLC/Public representatives

while giving due priority to greaterayacut and farmers participation totransport the excavated silt at their

own cost.

july 2017 11

july 201712

media malady

Corporatisation Vs CredibilityEven though the owners of newspapers had been big industrialists, theyhad made it a point not to meddle in the functioning of the editors.

eeds of corporatization of

media were sown in the

decade of seventies of the last

century along with the emer-

gence of neo-liberalism on the

global scene. The phenome-

non of media corporatisation

is also termed as Murdochisation after the name

of Rupert Murdoch, who is considered to be its

pioneer.

For understanding the nature and character

of this phenomenon, it will be worth its while to

go into its background. undoubtedly, the busi-

ness of media has been quite capital intensive

and it has traditionally been depending upon

two revenue streams; firstly, income from sub-

scription, and secondly, income from advertise-

ments. Income from advertisements have long

been a major source of revenue for media,

which has entailed its dependence on market

forces to a certain extent. Despite such depend-

ence, editors and correspondents in the newspa-

per industry, were able to withstand the pres-

sure exerted by market forces due to their own

standing, work culture and value system. Even

though the owners of newspapers had been big

industrialists, they had made it a point not to

meddle into the functioning of the editors and

correspondents and they had been able to dis-

charge their duties and responsibilities with full

professional independence.

Rupert Murdoch, however, broke this tradi-

SBy

Dhiranjan MalveyThe writer is a senior

journalist based in Delhi.Previuosly he worked with

BBC in London andPrashar Bharati in Delhi.

july 2017

tion. He began to buy the ownership of

major newspapers, television channels

and other media platforms in Australia,

uSA and Britain, one after the other and

created an overarching dominance over

media. With such kind of dominance,

the era of interference into working of

editors and journalists began to take root

and it soon culminated into complete

control. The status of the editor began to

fall and very soon completely margin-

alised. Media controlled by Murdoch no

longer remained neutral presenter of

news and began to determine the agenda

as per which the news stories and com-

mentaries were to be customised and for-

mulated. This way, Murdoch-controlled

media began to decide which party, gov-

ernment or political leader was to be

either promoted or discredited and

debunked. Behind such shenanigans, the

objective has always been serving one's

own business interests rather than doing

any public service.

So far as India is concerned, here

journalism started off as a mission - as a

weapon against British rule in the free-

dom movement. All the leaders of the

movement were accomplished journal-

ists apart from being dedicated freedom

fighters. In the post-Independence era,

the role of journalism underwent meta-

morphosis. It was required to establish

itself as the fourth pillar of democracy.

In the post independence India, many

newspapers and journalists were able to

live upto the new role and responsibility

entrusted to them. Some examples of

luminaries in the field of journalism are

M. Chalapathi Rau, M.V. Kamath,

girilal jain, Dharmvir Bharati, Agyeya,

Raghuvir Sahay and Prabhash joshi.

Due to their own towering personalities,

these stalwarts were more than capable

of withstanding any political or commer-

cial pressure. During the period of inter-

nal emergency (1975-77), many journal-

ists presented shining examples of their

commendable fighting spirit against

powers that be.

Decade of nineties in the last century

marked the advent of corporatisation of

Indian media in Murdoch style. If one

person is to be credited for making the

first move in this direction, it was Samir

jain, the boss of Bennett Coleman & Co.

Ltd., that has Times of India as its flag-

ship publication. He very candidly

announced that media was a business

just like any other business and newspa-

per was a product just like any other

product. In other words, from blatant

commercial standpoint, one cannot tell a

newspaper from a soap or shampoo.

Samir jain took no time in imple-

menting his newfound media philosophy

in Times of India. The biggest hurdle on

the road to crass corporatisation was edi-

tor and it had to be got rid of. Editorial

values were in direct conflict with com-

mercial logic. As a result, the traditional

concept of editor was given a go by.

Editors were appointed for different sub-

jects such as politics, economy, sports,

fashion, etc., but there was no one in the

editorial department who remained

responsible in an overall manner, who

could keep an eye not only on the total

content of the newspaper but also on its

artistic aspects. The overall responsibil-

ity of newspaper was taken over by the

management.

gradually, the management style of

Times of India caught on with other

newspapers as well. New sales and mar-

keting techniques came to the fore. On

the one hand, news stand prices were

drastically cut down, on the other, num-

ber of pages increased manifold. Today,

while the production cost of a

newspaper having 32 pages comes to

anything between Rs. 20/- and 25/-, the

news stand price is 3-4 rupees. Aesthetic

aspects underwent tremendous improve-

ments as newspapers turned multi-

coloured and quality of printing and lay-

out became more pleasing to eyes.

Readers were also lured and enticed with

free gifts.

To an extent, a section of journalists

also got benefitted. While there have

been no significant improvements in the

pay packets and service conditions of

13

Media controlled byMurdoch nolonger remainedneutralpresenter ofnews andbegan todetermine theagenda as perwhich the newsstories andcommentarieswere to be customised and formulated.

Rupert Murdoch

july 201714journalists belonging to Hindi and

regional language newspapers, many of

those, who worked for English journals

or in television, reaped rich dividends.

In fact, real sufferers of corporatisa-

tion is the Indian society and the nation.

Media is not just a business as it is the

fourth pillar of democracy which has

been entrusted with the responsibility of

protecting, preserving and reinforcing

the fundamental constitutional right to

freedom of speech and expression of cit-

izens in democracy. Citizens, however,

can meaningfully use this fundamental

right only when they are being informed

of various happenings relating to the

country, the society and the government

in a complete, objective and balanced

manner. In other words, the media must

be committed to the people and not to

rulers or industrialists. As discussed ear-

lier, such commitment was very much

visible during first few decades follow-

ing the independence. Many issues con-

cerning villagers and farmers were able

to find space in the media. When during

the decade of sixties, many parts of the

country became drought affected; the

media during those times highlighted the

plight of people as also the bungling and

corruption taking place in distribution of

relief material with utmost sensitivity

forcing the government to rise to the

occasion and take effective steps. It was

a glittering example of positive and

meaningful intervention by media for

protecting the interests of suffering

humanity.

Times have changed drastically.

Following corporatisation of media,

issues and problems relating to villages,

villagers and agriculture have almost

disappeared from media coverage zone.

Suicides by farmers no longer give any

shock to the conscience of media

persons even though they are taking

place with alarming regularity.

journalists seem to have become

immune to such tragedies as these inci-

dents are being dismissed and ignored as

something which is nothing more than a

routine.

Prior to corporatisation, there used

to be a dividing line between news and

advertisements as the latter were not

passed of as news. News was not

regarded as a marketable commodity

available for sale and purchase as it was

supposed to have a sanctity of its own

and protecting this sanctity was con-

sidered as bounden duty of any journal-

ist.

But the concept of 'Paid News' has

obliterated the dividing line between

news and advertisement. Now one can

get anything published so long as he is

ready to pay the price asked for. This

perversion began with page 3 of the

entertainment segment and newspapers

were more than willing to publish stories

relating to glamour world on payment

basis. This contagion gradually entered

into the main stream news stories as

well. During the last parliamentary elec-

tions, Election Commission had

received many complaints pertaining to

demand of money from candidates by

newspapers and television channels for

providing favourable coverage. Though

Election Commission took these com-

plaints quite seriously, any effective

medicine for eradication of this disease

is yet to emerge.

Distortion in ethical values created

by corporatisation, needs to be corrected

in the interest of democracy. At present,

Press Council of India, a statutory body

created by the Parliament, has the

responsibility to function as the moral

guardian of the print media. But its

powers are limited and it is quite often

termed as a toothless tiger. Electronic

media is totally out of its purview. Any

attempt to widen the ambit and extent of

powers of Press Council has its own

dangers as unbridled powers might be

used for muzzling or gagging of media.

In such a situation, media itself has to

find solution to ethical crisis faced by it.

It must not be forgotten that long term

survival of media lies in its credibility.

Once credibility is lost, its existence will

be in danger even as a business entity.

Self regulation could be its most effec-

tive moral compass if implemented with

sincerity of purpose and honesty in

intentions. If it does not happen, the

government and the Parliament might

have to come forward - despite appre-

hensions being expressed so often.

Vinod Dua getsRedInk Award

The Mumbai Press Club's

RedInk Awards for Excellence

in Indian journalism-2017

were presented at the National Centre

for Performing Arts, Nariman Point,

on june 7.

Veteran journalist Vinod Dua,

considered among the country's first

psephologists, was conferred the

Lifetime Achievement Award for his

contribution to journalism in "differ-

ent formats and subjects.'' Indian

Express chief editor Raj Kamal jha

got the journalist of the year Award

for the overall coverage of the global

money laundering scam known as

'The Panama Papers'. govind Tupe of

Sakal newspaper was given a newly

instituted award, Mumbai's Star

Reporter, for his reports on the offices

of cabinet ministers being brought

under the purview of RTI.

Chief minister Devendra

Fadnavis was the chief guest. He said

that he does not believe that there was

a threat to the fourth estate.

"Constructive journalism has its own

value. And we always are open to crit-

icism," he said. This year, the RedInk

team received over 1,500 entries

across various categories, a signifi-

cant jump from last year.

Vinod Dua speaking after receiving the Award

july 2017 15

july 201716

The Idea ofIndia underSiege It is aimed not merely at "managing the headlines" inthe newsroom but at paving the way for a lethal ideologythat has long craved legitimacy,through the boardroom.

ate last year, an editor whose employment was

ended under the 'tatkal' quota met a media

owner whose exit had been simi-

larly fast-tracked a few months

earlier. "Who was making the

[phone] calls?" the latter asked.

When he heard the names of a

couple of union Ministers, the

'malik' snarled: "Oh, wasn't that

glib RSS chap in the BjP

amongst them?"

The anecdote might well be

apocryphal. What is not is that

mainstream media is in deep

coma, gasping under pressure not

felt even during Emergency's

darkest nights. That was an

advertised, in-your-face, execu-

tive intervention - the censor sat

openly amid journalists in news-

paper offices and blacked out

stuff they thought Indira gandhi wouldn't like.

Co-option and coercion

What is on today is a sly, insidious operation

without anybody's Aadhaar-linked finger-

prints. It is aimed not merely at "managing the

headlines" in the newsroom but at paving the

way for a lethal ideology that

has long craved legitimacy,

through the boardroom.

In that sense, it is not just

the media that is under siege, but

the very "Idea of India".

Influential owners, anchors

and editors across the nation

resemble the hapless Kashmiri

tied to the Army jeep. They are

the advance party to quell

dissent, manufacture consent,

set the agenda, drum up support,

and spread fear, venom, hatred

and bigotry - sometimes through

sheer silence. The saffronisation

of the air waves is staggering.

It would be useful,

therefore, to stop deluding our-

selves that the siege began with the raid on

NDTV's promoters. Far from it, it is the culmi-

nation of a devious, top-down attempt at co-

option and cooperation that failed. Hence, the

coercion. So, in the "New India", it is

L

By

Krishna PrasadThe writer is former

Editor-in-Chief of'Outlook' magazine, and

a member of the PressCouncil of India

Influential

owners, anchors

and editors across

the nation

resemble the

hapless Kashmiri

tied to the Army

jeep. They are the

advance party to

quell dissent.

july 2017 17perfectly normal to hear that the govern-

ment has a list of journalists who attend-

ed a protest meeting in NDTV's support;

perfectly normal for the Foreign

Correspondents' Club to publicly assert it

was not involved in it; perfectly normal

for a CEO to privately predict no one in

the TV industry will stand up because

"most will be too scared".

When Big Brother tracks every chan-

nel, watches every tweet, and reads every

word, why would anybody want to take a

risk when the "caged bird" is a homing

pigeon, striking targets with precision?

Putting the same man in charge of the

Finance and I&B Ministries in 2014,

therefore, was a masterstroke. After all,

the government is the biggest advertiser.

"The country is going through an

existential crisis. Fear, anger, anxiety and

paranoia have become normal. Nobody

trusts anyone anymore. Nobody feels

secure. People, including journalists, try

to prove their loyalty to the government

by snitching on colleagues and neigh-

bours." Turkey's most famous woman

novelist Elif Safak could well be speak-

ing about India.

Who's to blame?

Much of what is now happening here is

happening in countries where nativist

nationalists are running riot: the united

States, japan, Turkey, even France.

Defamatory name-calling (using terms

such as 'presstitutes', 'journalopes' and 'gi-

raegi'); weaponised trolling; arrests,

killings, raids, lockdowns. Little wonder,

India now stands at 136 on the World

Press Freedom index, down from 133.

However, it would be foolish to lay

all the blame for Indian media's current

plight at the politician's door. The siege

began long ago with dodgy ownership;

mercenary business practices; advertising

and circulation revenue meltdowns;

emerging technologies. But at least there

was "independent journalism" shining the

light, showing the way. Today, as

non-state actors throttle India's founda-

tional values in broad daylight and much

of a besieged media happily plays cheer-

leader, future historians might wonder if

it did not suffer from the Stockholm

syndrome.

steel frame

Constitution is the onlyguide to Civil Servants

Members of the permanent

executive should be loyal to

the Constitution, rules and

regulations. They should, of course,

carry out the decisions of the political

executive but they should also ensure

that no decisions are taken against the

letter and spirit of the Constitution.

This was the unanimous view of all

the participants in a discussion held to

mark the second death anniversary of

late Dr. M. N. Buch on june 11 at

Bhopal. All the speakers paid glowing

tributes to him and described him as a

role model for the civil servants. The

discussion was jointly organised by

the All India Secular Forum and

Indian journalist union (Iju). The

subject of the seminar was "All India

services (IAS, IPS and IFS) yesterday

and today". Those who expressed

their views had occupied important

positions in the all India services.

At the outset L. S. Hardenia read

out an article authored by Dr. M. N.

Buch few months before his death.

Buch in his article said Sardar Patel

created these all-India services with

the objective that they would on one

hand ensure the integrity of the coun-

try and on the other would advise the

political executive on various admin-

istrative issues without fear and in the

best interest of the country. Initiating

discussion on the subject S. C. Behar,

former Chief Secretary said the IAS

officers should put a brake if they

found that ministers were acting

against the provisions of the

Constitution. "If the Ministers persist

with their illegal and unconstitutional

orders they should muster the courage

to refuse to fall in line," he said.

V. P. Sahni, retired IPS officer

recalled how they handled difficult

situations and ensured that the letter

and spirit of the Constitution and rules

and regulations were not violated. He

said that the services could play cru-

cial role in sustaining democratic fab-

ric of the country. Arun gurtoo,

former Director general of Police said

that corruption has greatly affected the

morale of such officers who want to

perform their job with dedication.

Others who participated in the

discussion were Ramakant Dubey,

K. C. Shrivastava, Narendra Prasad,

g. P. Dubey, B. K. Damle (all retired

IPS officers) and Dr. uday jain,

former Vice-Chancellor of Rewa

university.

Winding up the discussion, Mrs.

Nirmala Buch, former Chief Secretary

of Madhya Pradesh said one of the

factors responsible for deterioration in

administration was the emergence of

weak political leadership. She said

at present in most of the cases admin-

istration was not done according to

rules and regulations but according to

the whims of the members of political

executive who mostly gave priority to

their personal interest rather than the

interest of general public. Raghuraj

Singh proposed a vote of thanks.

M N Buch (1934 -2015)Former IAS officer

july 2017 1918

july 201720ViCe president says

Advertorialsedging outEditorials We would do well to recall Nehru'svision of the press playing its roleof a watchdog in democracy andlook at the ethos and principlesthat powered his journalism.

ice-President Hamid Ansari said attacks on press

freedom impact the rights of citizens and self-

censorship by the media under fear of attacks

could give rise to frustration in the society.

Amid raging debate over the role of the press

and its freedom in the country in the wake of

raids on the residential and office

premises of the promoters of

NDTV, he said only a 'free and

responsible' media could hold

power to account in this age of

'post-truths' and 'alternative facts'.

"A free media is not only ben-

eficial but necessary in a free soci-

ety. If press freedom is attacked it

will result in the jeopardising of

citizens' rights. When faced with

unjust restrictions and the threat of

attack, self-censorship in the

media can have the opposite

effect, aiding the covering up of

abuses and fostering frustration in marginalised

communities," he said.

Addressing the re-launch event of the

National Herald newspaper in Bangalore on 12

june, Hamid Ansari said that the country's

constitutional framework allowed state

intervention to ensure smooth working of the

press and the society, but 'such intervention

should only be in the interest of the public at

large'. "By the same token, the state shall not

impede in the free flow of information that will

go a long way in protecting and promoting citi-

zens' rights," he said.

Recalling the vision of Nehru, who started

the National Herald newspaper in1938, he said

"In this age of 'post truths' and 'alter-

native facts' where 'advertorials' and

'response features' edge out editori-

als, we would do well to recall

Nehru's vision of the press playing

its role of a watchdog in democracy

and look at the ethos and principles

that powered his journalism," he

said.

The Vice-President expressed

distress over the ineffective imple-

mentation of the Working

journalists Act, which gave a degree

of protection to journalists, to ensure

freedom of press. giving credit to

jawaharlal Nehru for bringing the Act, he said

"The Act, I believe, is now in disuse and short

term contracts that make journalists beholden to

the 'preferred lines' of the publications are in

vogue."

He recalled the historic role played by the

press during the freedom struggle and said many

founding members of Congress in 1885 were

journalists. "The history of journalism in India is

VA free and

responsible media

could hold power

to account in this

age of post-truths

and alternative

facts

july 2017 21closely linked to the history of our freedom

struggle. Indian journalists were not mere

news providers. They were freedom fighters

and social activists, who fought not only to

rid India of foreign rule but also to rid our

society of social prejudices, casteism, com-

munalism and discrimination. It played an

important role in educating, convinc-

ing and mobilizing our people," he said.

He said during the freedom struggle, the

Press was a medium for propagation of

modern ideas of democracy, freedom and

equality. It emerged as a medium of com-

munication between nationalists across the

country and played a role in welding India

into a single nation and in giving the Indians

a sense of national identity. This was cru-

cial in mobilizing the masses for various

nationalist and social causes, he said. He

summed up the role of the press during free-

dom struggle by quoting a poet who said:

Khincho na kamanon ko

na talwar nikalo

Jab top muqabil ho to

akhbar nikalo

Describing Mahatma gandhi's journal-

ism as 'public service journalism' Ansari

said gandhiji used six journals he was asso-

ciated with and two weeklies he edited,

young India and Harijan, as powerful

vehicles of his views. He published no

advertisement; at the same time he did not

want his newspapers to run at a loss, he

added.

"In my humble opinion, it is wrong to

use a newspaper as a means of earning a liv-

ing. There are certain spheres of work which

are of such consequence and have such bear-

ing on public welfare that to undertake them

for earning one's livelihood will defeat

the primary aim behind them. When, further

a newspaper is treated as a means of making

profits, the result is likely to be serious mal-

practices. It is not necessary to prove to

those who have some experience of journal-

ism that such malpractices do prevail on a

large scale."

He said the Supreme Court had held that

'freedom of speech and of the press is the

Ark of the Covenant of Democracy' because

public criticism was essential to the working

of its institutions. He said constant vigi-

lance over exercise of governmental power

by the press and the media among others

was essential for a good government.

rahul gandhi laments

Congress vice-president Rahul

gandhi accused the Narendra

Modi-led central government

of "forcing everyone into silence with

dalits being beaten up, minorities

frightened and journalists and bureau-

crats threatened. Speaking at a func-

tion of the National Herald newspaper

in Bangalore on 12 june, he said,

"The power of truth is being com-

pletely replaced with the truth of

power and anybody who attempts to

speak the truth and stand for it is

being pushed aside."

gandhi also alleged that

thousands of journalists were not

being allowed to write what they

wanted to. "They (journalists) tell me

that they are not being allowed to

write what they want to," he said.

Recalling that he was not allowed

to visit Madhya Pradesh and uttar

Pradesh during the recent farmers'

protest and was stopped at the border

of both the states, he said, "This is the

India we are living in - an India where

power will simply manufacture the

truth."

Recollecting Soviet poet yevgeny

yevtushenko, who said, "When truth

is replaced by silence, the silence is a

lie," gandhi said, "This is what the

government is trying to do."

"Everybody knows what the truth

is. But they are scared to say it," he

said at the function where Vice-

President Mohammad Hamid Ansari

released the National Herald's

commemorative publication to

celebrate 70 years of India's

independence.

The Congress vice-president

recalled that when the editor of

National Herald approached him

recently, he told him that there might

be times when the paper would want

to write things against him or his

party or its policies, but "you (editor)

should be absolutely comfortable.

That is the spirit we expect from

National Herald." "National Herald

has a strong spirit. It is not going to be

silenced," he added.

Congress leader Oscar Fernandes,

who is on the Board of Directors of

the newspaper, said the paper, which

was founded by former prime minis-

ter jawaharlal Nehru in 1938 and the

publication of which was suspended a

few years ago, was in the process of

reviving its Hindi and urdu editions

as a multi- media outlet. The function

is being seen as a prelude to the

launch of the daily National Herald

English edition.

Power of truthreplaced byTruth of power

july 201722

Capturesbits ofManto'ssoul

MANTOSTAAN

Mantostaan is a small, intimate portrait of bloodthirsty men and theirquarries aimed at exposing the sheer absurdity of sectarian intolerance

aadat Hasan Manto's Partition stories -

confrontational, harrowing and haunt-

ing - aren't an easy read. The fate of his

hapless characters starkly remind us of

the potential of religious fanaticism to

trigger mass-scale insanity. The iconic

urdu writer was unflinching and

unremitting in the way he chronicled

the blood-splattered circumstances

amid which the subcontinent was

cleaved into two. His provocatively

piercing tales of rage, anguish and

moral distress, and the mirror that they

hold up to the ugliness that resides

within us all, are still as relevant as

ever. No wonder Mantostaan, which

weaves four of Manto's most powerful

short stories into a single, seamless

screenplay, feels so appropriate for our

troubling times.

The effort of actor-writer-director

Rahat Kazmi is, therefore, irrefutably

pertinent and praiseworthy. The result,

alas, is uneven. Mantostaan is devoid

of the gut-wrenching punch that

Manto's seething pen could deliver at

will.

Its sense of the horrific is unwaver-

ing all right. But for a film derived

from stories so staggeringly shocking -

all four are set in the dark days, and

nights, of the Partition riots -

Mantostaan feels oddly desiccated and

disinfected. It simply doesn't send us

reeling to the wall.

In Manto's world, hope flickers

ever so fleetingly. The victims of

marauding mobs are sitting ducks.

However, superannuated Amritsar

judge Mian Abdul Ali (Virendra

Saxena) advises his understandably ter-

rified daughter Sughra (Raina Bassnet)

not to panic even as other Muslims of

the locality flee in hordes across the

newly created border. "Sab theek ho

jaayega (Everything will be fine)," he

assures her rather airily. In the same

breath, he instructs his ageing, ailing

MO

VIE

RE

VIE

WSBy

SaibalChatterjee

july 2017 23retainer Akbar to securely lock the doors.

Fear looms over the household and

the neighbourhood. Despite his deep

faith in humanity, Mian Abdul Ali has no

idea what the next knock on the door will

portend. The ex-judge's inner conflict -

the principal figure in the short story

'Assignment' insists that the storm will

blow over. But he is so weighed down by

his indecision that he is laid low by a par-

alytic attack - is in sync with Manto's

imagination, fretful but firmly rooted in

reality. Its effect appears to go beyond

the written word and the filmed image

and afflict Mantostaan as a whole.

Swaying between discomposure and

detachment, the film fails to replicate

Manto's sledgehammer blows.

Of the other three stories adapted by

Kazmi - Thanda gosht, Khol Do and

Aakhri Salute - the first is about an

arsonist Isher Singh with a dark secret

(Shoib Nikash Shah) and his feisty mis-

tress Kulwant Kaur (Sonal Sehgal); the

second hinges on Sakina (Sakshi Bhat)

numbed into silence by repeated sexual

violence and brutality while her dis-

traught father Sirajuddin (Raghuvir

yadav) desperately searches for her; and

the third focuses on the plight of two

childhood pals (Rahat Kazmi and Tariq

Khan) now fighting on opposite sides in

the war in Kashmir.

None of these individuals can fully

fathom the sheer irrationality of the

destructive acts that they confront or per-

petrate. The audience, on its part, can

sense the fears and the helplessness of

the victims, but the magnitude of the

tragedies do not hit home with the antic-

ipated force. The final macabre revela-

tion in Thanda gosht or the involuntary

act of poignant resignation by a girl who

is viciously violated by her tormentors

and rescuers alike in Khol Do pan out

rather mechanically.

Director Kazmi plays jawaharlal

Nehru's 'tryst with destiny' speech

upfront, and not without logic. The

underlying hope that the advent of inde-

pendence would be an opportunity for

the people of the subcontinent to

"redeem our pledge" serves as a com-

plete contrast to the conflagration that

Punjab is plunged into and the vortex of

senseless violence that millions of inno-

cent people are sucked into.

The women, needless to say, are the

worst hit: Kulwant Kaur of Thanda

gosht, Sakina of Khol Do and Sughra of

Assignment, a 17-year-old woman who

cannot for the life of her figure out why

friends have turned foes overnight.

Mantostaan is a small, intimate por-

trait of bloodthirsty men and their quar-

ries aimed at exposing the sheer absurdi-

ty of sectarian intolerance. The statement

it makes is by no means insubstantial: in

an honest and heartfelt manner, the film

spotlights the fault lines that history has

bequeathed the subcontinent. The reper-

cussions continue to haunt us as ven-

omous elements lurking in the shadows

grow bolder by the day gnaw into the

vitals of the nation.

That is the reason why no film about

Manto or based on his stories, no matter

how short it might fall of doing justice to

the coiled-up power of his tales or how

ineffectual it might be in snuffing out

deeply entrenched prejudices, can be dis-

missed as a wasted opportunity.

Mantostaan deserves applause because it

captures crucial bits of Manto's soul, if

not the ferocity of his spirit.

Saadat Hasan Manto

A still from the film Mantostaan

None of these individuals can fully fathom the sheer irrationality of thedestructive acts that they confront or perpetrate. The audience, on its part, can

sense the fears and the helplessness of the victims, but the magnitude of thetragedies do not hit home with the anticipated force.

july 201724

A bright mosaicThe publication of this novel, 20 years after Roy's

Booker prize-winning debut The God of SmallThings, comes with great expectations. That book

also used a rather jagged style, but moulded itinto a narrative with a fierce emotional pull.

rundhati Roy's second novel is not just

one story, but many. Here is a trans

woman from Delhi, here is a man from

an untouchable background passing

himself off as a Muslim, here is a gov-

ernment official retired from a post in

Kabul, here is a resistance fighter in

Kashmir, here is a woman in the

Maoist rebellion in Bastar, here is a

rebellious woman who kidnaps an

abandoned baby, and more. Indeed,

from time to time the birds and the bee-

tles become as important as the people

in this narrative.

This scene seemed to me to sum up

the unique flavour of the novel: an owl

is looking through a window; inside

the room, a woman is lying with a

sleeping baby she has kidnapped. The

reader is eager to leave the owl's point

of view and move into the woman's

mind; we've heard about her and this

baby already, and we want to under-

stand what is going to happen to them.

But the woman is dreaming about a

weevil teaching ethics and quoting a

contemporary philosopher on why we

should never rely on pity. "Evil

Weevils always make the cut," says

some graffiti on the weevil's classroom

wall. The woman's interior monologue

descends further and further into the

surreal, as alligators, lizards and a

"neocon newt" crowd into the class-

room. After a couple of pages, the

scene cuts off and we switch point of

view again, this time to the woman's

ex-husband. What links the baby and

the woman is left behind, to be contin-

ued much later in the novel.

"How to tell a shattered story?"

one of the characters reads in his

lover's notebook towards the end, in a

statement that also appears on the

cover. "By slowly becoming every-

body. No. By slowly becoming every-

thing." Clearly, Roy's scattershot narra-

tive is deliberate; it reflects the frag-

mentation of the world around us. But

there are dangers inherent in the

attempt to become everybody and

everything, and her clashing subplots

and whimsical digressions can become

rather unwieldy.

The publication of this novel, 20

years after Roy's Booker prize-winning

debut The god of Small Things, comes

with great expectations. That book also

used a rather jagged style, but moulded

it into a narrative with a fierce emo-

tional pull. I don't think I will ever for-

get the cloying taste of the lemonade in

that cinema where dark things hap-

pened, or the desiring glances between

the doomed lovers. Even apparently

incidental details had weight, and the

characters moved vividly through the

densely imagined scenes.

Although this follow-up has been

so long in the making, it feels less pol-

ished than Roy's first novel. Perhaps

this could even be the result of its long

gestation, rather like the experience

that one of the characters has of paint-

ing his floor, whose surface becomes

more broken the longer it is left. "I

BO

OK

RE

VIE

W

A

By

NatashaWalter

Natasha Walteris director of Women

for Refugee Womenand author of LivingDolls: The Return of

Sexism

july 2017 25notice that my experiment with the red

cement floor has failed. I wanted a floor

with a deep, soft shine, like those grace-

ful old houses down south. But here,

over the years, the summer heat has

leached the colour from the cement and

the winter cold has caused the surface to

contract and shatter into a pattern of hair-

line cracks."

This fragmented effect is partly

down to the vast cast of characters. At

times, Roy's desire to capture all sorts of

diverse stories works brilliantly. Her

opening depiction of the life of the trans

woman, or hijra, Anjum, for instance, is

intriguing. There is nothing overly dra-

matic about Anjum's recognition that she

is a woman, no terror involved in her

passage from her family into the com-

mune where she lives most of her life.

She is scornful when film-makers,

NgOs and foreign correspondents try to

feed off her tragedy: "Others have horri-

ble stories, the kind you people want to

write about," she says. Instead of over-

done trauma, we get acutely angled

insight into what it might be like for her,

finding a community where she is

accepted but also coming into the reali-

sation that she will never be really at

peace with herself. As another hijra says

to her, "The riot is inside us. The war is

inside us. Indo-Pak is inside us. It will

never settle down. It can't."

The sense that many of the most

important wars and riots are inside, not

outside, the characters, is vital to the

impact of this novel. Nobody is at peace,

everyone is restless with unsaid memo-

ries and unattained dreams. But some

characters are much less realised than

Anjum; they brush past us and hardly

draw us into their world. This decision to

bring in so many varied voices feels

political, as if it is Roy's statement about

the need to give attention to those who

are so often overlooked by narrators of

modern India. We know from her pas-

sionate polemics how she feels about the

inequalities and injustices of her country,

and several of the subjects she has writ-

ten about in non-fiction appear here,

lightly transmuted into fiction.

By including so many voices Roy

may be pressing the point that everyone

is as worthy of empathy as everyone

else, but at times the effect, strangely,

becomes the opposite. Almost every

character seems to have some terrible

experience of loss - a friend killed in

massacres in gujarat, a father murdered

for being an untouchable, an acquain-

tance beaten to death in the Kashmir

resistance, a wife and daughter brutally

killed in a crowd shooting - but partly

because there are so many of them, it is

hard for each dire event to achieve its full

force. Particularly in the scenes in

Kashmir, Roy provides a relentless

parade of misery. While this may be true

to the reality of that region, it is unfortu-

nate that in order to try to bring the hor-

rors to life, she sometimes slips into the

kind of purple prose that feels unworthy

of her talent, where bodies are "arranged

in eerie, frozen tableaux under the piti-

less gaze of the pale moon in the cold

night sky". At times, she almost seems to

be warning the reader against looking for

any point of human sympathy: "Death

was everywhere. Death was everything.

Career. Desire. Dream. Poetry. Love.

youth itself. Dying became just another

way of living … As the war progressed

in the Kashmir Valley, graveyards

became as common as the multi-storey

parking lots that were springing up in the

burgeoning cities in the plains."

But just as I began to feel that her

narrative was failing to create the depth

it needed to spring fully alive, the per-

spective changed. Throughout the novel

there are glimpses of the important

arrival of a new baby, and when we final-

ly find out more about who the baby's

mother is and why the child means so

much to the diverse characters, a new

and more humane spirit seems to enter

the book. There is a moving quality to

the way that Roy gathers her cast togeth-

er around the abandoned child. A sense

of community arises as this disparate

group of people make new bonds and,

symbolically, encourage new life to

flourish in a graveyard. Humour makes a

welcome return, as does a more ground-

ed sense of relationship and loss.

This vision of building something

fine and generous feels all the more hon-

est and hopeful because of the harder

journeys of much of the rest of the book.

Stick with this novel, give it time to

grow, and there are lasting rewards in

Roy's ability to create a bright mosaic

out of these fragmented stories.

The sense thatmany of the most importantwars and riots areinside, not outside,the characters, isvital to the impactof this novel.Nobody is atpeace, everyone isrestless withunsaid memoriesand unattaineddreams.

Arundhati Roy

july 201726

10greatCartoons

Selected by R PrasadCreative Director Outlook Group

We are reproducing tencartoons by great IndianCartoonists published by

Outlook magazine on 5 May2017 to commemorate the

World Cartoon Day.

By RajendraPuri, published

in The Statesman

An unpublishedcartoon of AbuAbraham

1

By Shankar, published in Shankar’s Weekly

2

By R K Laxman, published in Times of IndiaBy Vijayan, published in The Statesman

3

4 5

july 2017 27

By Unny, published in The Indian Express

By Sudhir Tailang, published in Hindustan Times

By Keshav, published in The Hindu

By Ravishankar, published inThe Indian Express

By Surendra, published inThe Hindu

This is a cartoon by R Prasadwhich the Outlook editor foundtoo hot to publish. It later went

viral in social media.

6 7

8

9

10

july 201728a tribute

he world is cele-

brating hundred

years of Soviet

Revolution. At

this juncture we

journalists should remember

john Reed, the great journalist

who was an eye witness to an

epoch in the making. john

Reed an American authored the

book containing his eye wit-

ness account and titled his

immortal book "Ten Days that

Shook the World". It presents a

wonderfully vivid and forceful

description of the first ten days

of the October Revolution. It is not a mere enumeration of

facts, nor a collection of documents, but a succession of

scenes from life, so typical that any participant in the rev-

olution cannot but remember similar scenes he had wit-

nessed himself. And these shots from life reflected with

astonishing veracity the sentiments of the masses, the

sentiments that determined every act of the Revolution.

john Reed was born on October 22, 1882 in an

American city of Portland

where the workers

refused to load

military supplies for

the Kolchak army.

His father was one of

those hardy and open

- hearted pioneers

whom jack London

portrayed in his sto-

ries of the American

west. Reed on leaving

high school went to

Harvard. He spent four

years in Harvard where

TBy

L.S. Hardenia

The writer is aveteran journalistbased at Bhopal.

It is not a mere enumeration of facts, nor acollection of documents, but a successionof scenes from life, so typical that anyparticipant in the revolution cannotbut remember similar scenes hehad witnessed himself.

An eyewitness to an Epoch

july 2017 29his personal charm and talent earned

everybody's affection. Reed ended his

studies and gained his degree to enter the

wide world. While still a student, as the

editor of Lampoon, a humorous sheet he

proved himself a master of the light and

brilliant style. He travelled the length

and breadth of the world, to all countries

and all fronts, passing from one extraor-

dinary adventure to the next. He was not

an ordinary adventurer, not a travelling

journalist, but an on looker who watched

the suffering of people dispassionately.

All the chaos, dirt and bloodshed

offended his sense of justice and

propriety. In the summer of 1917 Reed

hastened to Russia where he sensed the

making of a great class war in the early

revolutionary clashes. Later he stayed in

Russia and watched every incident, kept

extensive record. One may wonder at

first how such a book could have been

written by a foreigner, an American, who

did not know the language or the ways of

the country. It would seem that he should

have committed numerous blunders and

missed many essentials. Most foreigners

write of Russia in quite a different way.

They either fail altogether to understand

the events they witness, or they snatch a

few unconnected facts, not always typi-

cal, or use them to make sweeping gen-

eralisations.

But, of course, very few foreigners

were eye-witnesses of the Revolution.

The explanation is that john Reed was

not an indifferent observer, but a pas-

sionate revolutionary, a Communist who

understood the meaning of the events,

the meaning of the great struggle. This

understanding gave him that sharp

insight, without which such a book could

never have been written.

Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich ulianov) the

architect of the great Soviet Revolution,

paid handsome tributes to john Reed in

the following words, "With the greatest

interest and with never slackening atten-

tion I read john Reed's book. Ten Days

that Shook the World. unreservedly do I

recommend it to the workers of the

world. Here is a book which I should like

to see published in millions of copies and

translated into all languages. It gives a

truthful and most vivid exposition of the

events so significant to the comprehen-

sion of what really is the Proletarian

Revolution and the Dictatorship of the

Proletariat. These problems are widely

discussed, but before one can accept or

reject these ideas, he must understand the

full significance of his decision. john

Reed's book will undoubtedly help to

clear this question, which is the funda-

mental problem of the international

labour movement".

Interestingly the great Chinese revo-

lution was also covered by an American

journalist. His book's title is "Red Star

over China".

Centre mulls onSocial Media

The government of India is

putting the finishing touches

on a social media policy,

which will monitor anti-national

propaganda and attempt to arrest the

spread of malicious rumours, Press

Trust of India (PTI) repoted on 23

june. Apparently, the government

already has a set of dos and don'ts

which it now wants to turn into for-

mal guidelines. However, it's not

clear if the government has included

social media platforms in the

process, and also what exactly does

social media encompass.

Earlier Ministry of Communi-

cations and Information Technology

approved a framework and guide-

lines for use of social media for gov-

ernment organizations and defined

social media to include social net-

working platforms like Facebook,

microblogging platforms like

Twitter, blogs maintained by indi-

viduals, video blogs and video shar-

ing platforms like youTube, and

Wikipedia. And in july 2016, while

informing civil servants and officers

that they were strictly not allowed to

criticize the government on social

media, platforms such as Facebook,

Twitter and Whatsapp.

It’s worth noting that back in

2015, barely three weeks after the

Supreme Court scrapped Section

66A of the IT Act for being uncon-

stitutional, the Ministry of Home

Affairs (MHA) was considering

bringing it back in a slightly differ-

ent avatar. The home ministry had

set up a committee to look into how

national security concerns could be

accommodated in the IT Act, and

representatives from the Intelligence

Bureau, National Investigation

Agency and Delhi Police were part

of the committee. This committee

was supposed to submit its report

within a month's time, but nothing

has been heard since.

july 201730

Politics of Propaganda

Smear campaignsand fake news will achieve their ulterior motivesif we are not consistently vigilant

perils of neW media

ormer uS President Franklin D Roosevelt was

an experienced statesman who understood the

nuances of democracy. He said, "Democracy

cannot succeed unless those who express their

choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real

safeguard of democracy, therefore, is educa-

tion."

A democracy can overcome the challenges

it faces if people collectively resist the forces

that undermine it. Divisive forces are once

again raising their heads by taking advantage

of the new media. Recently, two photographs

of a naked tribal girl were published on the

Facebook page of uttar Pradesh Chief

Minister Adityanath, revealing a new dimen-

sion of spreading smear campaign against

rival political forces.

Laxmi Oraon was stripped and assaulted

brutally by a mob on the streets of guwahati

during a protest rally in 2007. Laxmi, then a

19-year-old girl, had come from Sonitpur dis-

trict to participate in a demonstration by

Adivasis seeking ST status. The ten-year-old

photograph was posted on the Facebook page

of the uP Chief Minister depicting her as a

Hindu woman who was stripped by Congress

workers of West Bengal.

This is a clear case of manufacturing fake

news by forgery to malign political rivals. It is

natural that the BjP as a rival of the Congress

will use all opportunities to expose its mis-

deeds. The Congress is no different.

Like war, a political fight also has some

rules, which everybody should follow.

Criticism cannot be based on falsehood. With

increasing penetration of internet and social

media, the rightist forces are abusing these

technological tools in an organised way to fur-

ther their divisive agenda and gag the dissent-

ing voices.

Forgetting the trauma of being stripped in

public, Laxmi Oraon is now married and set-

tled in her village. By publishing her naked

photograph on the Facebook page of a Chief

Minister, the admin of the FB page has done

great injustice to her.

intimidating Critics

Broadcast journalist Swati Chaturvedi in her

book, 'I am a Troll: Inside the Secret World of

the BjP's Digital Army' contends that the BjP

is orchestrating online campaigns to intimi-

date perceived critics of the BjP and its gov-

ernment through its social media cell.

The BjP was the first Indian political party

to realise the importance of the power of

ByGeetartha Pathak

The author is senior journalist based at

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

F

july 2017 31social media in mobilising public opinion.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi

opened his Twitter account in 2009,

Congress vice-president Rahul gandhi

joined the microblogging site only in 2015.

It is also interesting that Narendra

Modi personally follows a clutch of

Twitter accounts that regularly send out

abusive tweets. Some of his cabinet col-

leagues have openly endorsed some trolls.

Derek O'Brien, a Rajya Sabha MP from

West Bengal, has questioned why Modi

follows cyber-bullies.

manufacturing Consent

Professor Emeritus of finance at Wharton

School of Business, university of

Pennsylvania, a media analyst Edward S

Herman and an American linguist, philoso-

pher, cognitive scientist and social critic

Noam Chomsky have advanced a propa-

ganda model to explain how propaganda

and systemic biases function in mass

media.

The model seeks to explain how popu-

lations are manipulated and how consent

for economic, social, cultural as well as

political policies is 'manufactured' in the

public mind owing to this propaganda. The

theory claims that five general classes of

filters determine the kind of news present-

ed in news media - ownership of the

media, media's funding sources, sourcing,

flak, anti-communism or war on terrorism.

In their 1988 book 'Manufacturing

Consent: The Political Economy of the

Mass Media', Chomsky and Herman pre-

sented the propaganda model. The model

views private media as businesses interest-

ed in the sale of a product - readers and

audiences - to other businesses (advertis-

ers) rather than that of quality news to the

public.

The authors of the book took into

account only the print and electronic

media to establish the propaganda model

as the internet came much later. However,

the propaganda model as envisaged by

Chomsky and Herman has proved to be

more relevant than the conventional print

and electronic media.

muzzling Voices

In order to regulate social media content,

new innovative filters are being invented

by vested socio-political interests. Trolling

and blocking are two such filters in the

process of manipulating propaganda or

manufacturing news.

Instead of taking advantage of the

advancement of science and technology

for increasing production quality and mak-

ing citizens' lives comfortable, the present

ruling classes are using it for advancing

their divisive political agenda. Now terror-

ists, criminals and autocratic regimes are

abusing technology and science more and

more for their activities.

In India, journalists are being targeted

for criticising the ruling party and the gov-

ernment. A police complaint was filed

against a journalist and author of 'gujarat

Files: Anatomy of a Cover up' for simply

commenting on Twitter on the presidential

candidate of BjP. The same day another

journalist Basit Malik was assaulted when

he was investigating alleged demolition of

a mosque in Sonia Vihar, Delhi, by some

supporters of the BjP only because he was

a Muslim.

These are nothing but ploys to muzzle

the voices of those in the media, which do

not toe the official line. Filing police com-

plaints against journalists and dragging

them to court is another type of filter in

manipulating news by despotic regimes.

To counter propaganda and news man-

ufacturing by using news filter, the demo-

cratic forces of the country should face the

challenge without being provoked by

leveraging various media platforms - .par-

ticularly the social media, which is com-

paratively difficult to control by political

powers.

In order to regulate social media content, new innovative filters

are being invented by vested socio-political interests. Trolling

and blocking are two such filters in the process of

manipulating propaganda or manufacturing news.

Faced with sedition charges

for his remarks allegedly

insulting the army men,

former uP minister and

Samajwadi Party leader Azam

Khan sought to blame the media

for his predicament. Addressing

a press conference at Rampur,

uP, on 1 july, he said the media

should have censored his

remarks if they wished instead

of creating a controversy. "The

newspapers and news channels

are responsible for airing the

news. If they had a problem with

the remarks,

they should

have censored

what I said," he

said The uP

politician who

shoots off his

mouth is now

in trouble for

his remarks

that the country

should be

ashamed that terrorists were

mutilating the bodies of the

army jawans.

Khan also produced a news

article on the ambush of CRPF

jawans by Maoists in Sukma,

Chhattisgarh, in April, and

claimed that he was quoting the

report about mutilation of Indian

soldiers. "Whatever I had said, it

was already published here. you

can't reject news which was

published by the print media. I

had only quoted from news

reports," he said.

Asked about FIRs filed

against him, including one in

Bijnor which has sedition

charges, Khan said, "Fake

charges have been made against

me under the influence of the

government."

Azam Khanwants media toCensor him

july 2017

he Election Commission of

India disqualified Madhya

Pradesh minister Narottam

Mishra as MLA on 24 june

over corrupt practices and paid news

during 2008 assembly polls in the state.

Mishra has been barred from contesting

elections for three years. The assembly

polls are likely to be held in December

2018. This is a second time Election

Commission unseated a siting MLA on

charges of paid news. Earlier, it disqual-

ified a women MLA from uttar Pradesh,

umlesh yadav, belonging to Rashtriya

Parivartan Dal on charge of paid news in

2011 based on a Press Council report.

Considered as number two in the

state cabinet headed by Chief Minister

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Mishra is Water

Resources and Legislative Affairs minis-

ter and also holds charge of the Public

Relations Department. "I didn't give any

money to the media. There is no evi-

dence. My lawyer is studying the order.

Will move High Court (if need be)," he

said.

The decision came based on a com-

plaint by former Congress MLA

Rajendra Bharti in April 2009 alleging

Mishra had not filed certain details in his

election expenditure during the 2008

assembly elections. The Election

Commission had issued a notice in

january 2013 seeking his response.

Mishra then challenged the notice in

the high court bench at gwalior and got

a stay in light of former Maharashtra

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's case pro-

ceeding in the top court. The court, how-

ever, vacated the stay order after consid-

ering the facts submitted by

complainant's counsel. Then he

approached the Supreme Court to stall

the EC proceedings but the top court did

not grant him any relief.

Last year, the poll panel questioned

Mishra in Delhi about the allegations. It

found that he had not revealed his expen-

diture on paid news. The EC has the

power to disqualify a candidate if he fails

to submit the account of expenses within

time. In this case, the money spent on

paid news was not shown in the account.

The ECI order said "The

Commission finds that irrespective of

whether the alleged expenditure when

added to the respondent's reported

account, breaches the permissible limit

or not, the fact remains that the respon-

dent has not only knowingly submitted a

false account of expenses, but also

attempted to circumvent the legally pre-

scribed limit on expenditure. Such

attempts need to be curbed with strong

measures and visited with exemplary

sanctions and restore the balance in the

electoral playing field".

The EC said the three items of 'paid

news' were in the form of an "appeal" by

Mishra but were attempted to be

portrayed as news items - an item in

Dainik Bhaskar that appeared on

November 27, 2008 with a picture of

Mishra and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh

Chouhan and the BjP symbol, an item in

Dainik Nayi Duniya under the heading

"Nayi Duniya Response Features", car-

rying a picture of Mishra and printed on

the day of polls, and another in Dainik

Datiya Prakash again on November 27,

2008, with Mishra's picture and ending

with the words "Aapka Dr Narottam

Mishra, Bhajapaa Pratyashi Vidhansabha

Kshetra."

MP Minister unseated for 'Paid News'

Narottam Mishra

T32

july 2017 33

SC dismisses contempt plea Against media managements

The Supreme Court refused to

accept the plea of the working

journalists and other newspaper

employees to hold managements of the

newspapers which did not implement the

recommendations of the Majithia Wage

Board for the contempt of court. A two

member bench of the apex court consist-

ing of justice Ranjan gogoi and justice

Navin Sinha in a judgment delivered on

19 june said the disputes on payment of

wages recommended by the Majithia

Wage board should be decided by rev-

enue courts as provided in the Section 17

of the Working journalists Act. The court

disposed of 83 contempt petitions filed

against the managements of the media

houses by the working journalists and

other employees of the newspaper indus-

try refusing to hold them for contempt.

The court also refused to interfere in

the cases of transfer or termination of

employees in the aftermath of the

Majithia Wage Board. It said "it appears

that the same are relatable to service con-

ditions of the newspaper employees and

adjudication of such question in the exer-

cise of high prerogative writ jurisdic-

tion of this Court under Article 32 of the

Constitution would not only be unjusti-

fied but such questions should be left for

determination before the appropriate

authority either under the Working

journalists Act or under Section 32 of

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

However, the court ruled that the all

the benefits flowing from the recommen-

dations of the Wage Board should also be

applicable to the working journalists and

others appointed on contract basis.

"There is nothing either in the provisions

of the Working journalists Act or in the

terms of the Wage Board Award which

would enable us to hold that the benefits

of the Award would be restricted to the

regular employees and not contractual

employees," it said.

In February 2014, the apex court

dismissed all writ petitions moved by

newspaper managements against the

Majithia Wage Board. It ordered the

owners to pay their employees the wages

as revised/determined by the wage board

payable from November 11, 2011, when

the government of India notified the rec-

ommendations of the Majithia Wage

Board.

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july 2017

ll hopes that the country's journalists will at last

get their legitimate dues lie almost shattered after

the Supreme Court's rejection on june 19 of all

the 83 contempt petitions filed on their behalf. In

spite of the apex Court's earlier dismissal on

February 07, 2014 of the employers' writ

petitions against the appointment of the Majithia

Wage Boards and their awards, their legal

stratagems have succeeded in depriving

thousands of journalists of their legitimate dues

for more than a decade. The judgments and

orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court are clear

and unexceptionable and uphold the position of

the journalists and their unions, but the executive

branch of the system, both at the Centre and the

States, fails to do its duty and get the wage

awards implemented. The journalists, thus, have

been again pushed into a corner and just do not

know what to do and who will implement the

awards of the Wage Boards. For all one can see,

they are back to square one after waiting for the

court's verdict for six long years.

The Supreme Court judgment delivered by

justices Ranjan gogoi and Navin Sinha on june

19 directs the journalists and other newspaper

employees to go back to the non-performing

mechanism provided under section 17 of the

Working journalists Act. The august court has

rightly said: "It would be more appropriate to

resolve such complaints and grievances by resort

to the enforcement and remedial machinery

provided under the Act rather than by any future

approaches to the Courts in exercise of the

contempt jurisdiction of the Courts or

otherwise." On the issue of the termination of the

services of a number of journalists and other

employees in the context of their demand for the

implementation of Majithia Wage Boards, too,

the court has 'very rightly' but unkindly said, "In

so far as the writ petitions seeking interference

with transfer/termination, as the case may be, are

concerned, it appears that the same are relatable

to service conditions of the concerned writ

petitioners. Adjudication of such question in the

exercise of high prerogative writ jurisdiction of

this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution

would not only be unjustified but such questions

should be left for determination before the appro-

priate authority either under the Act or under

cognate provisions of law (Industrial Disputes

Act, 1947 etc.), as the case may be."

One may recall in this regard the Court's ear-

lier Order on April 28, 2015, directed state

governments appoint Inspectors under Section

17-B of the Working journalists Act, to deter-

mine as to whether the dues and entitlements of

all categories of Newspaper Employees, includ-

ing journalists under the Majithia Wage Board

Award, has been implemented. It directed the

Inspectors to submit their reports to the Court

indicating their findings. In its subsequent Order

of March 14, 2016, with regard to the termination

issue, too, it said it took note of several

applications that came before it alleging wrong-

ful termination of services and fraudulent surren-

der of the rights under the Wage Board recom-

mendations to avoid liabilities in terms of the

order of the Court. As the Court could not

examine individual complaints, it asked the state

Labour Commissioners to look into all such

grievances and report back to the Court. The

apex court asked the journalists to approach

Labour Commissioners with their grievances.

These two orders naturally generated big

hopes to the journalists and employees that they

would get full justice from the highest court of

the nation and that at least a time-bound scheme

would be put in place to ensure the implementa-

tion of the wage awards. All that they have got

after waiting for 17 long years (for the Manisana

Singh wage board report was notified in year

2000 and the new wage board was constituted in

2007), is an advice to go and approach the very

government officials who have repeatedly failed

to get the wage awards implemented. And the

irony is that the advice comes even after a three-

judge bench of the Supreme Court had rejected

the petition of various newspaper managements

challenging the constitution of this Wage Board

as well as Working journalists Act in its judg-

ment in 2014.

The ball, thus, is back in our court. The

Court could at least directed the government and

its officers like labour commissioners to perform

their duties and get the wage awards implement-

ed. It has, instead, put the onus on us, even at the

risk of getting sacked or otherwise harassed. Let

us rise to the occasion and take it up as a chal-

lenge. Let our unions act as one to raise the issue

with the governments and their labour commis-

sioners and launch strong agitations to perform

their duties as required by the law of the land and

orders of the Supreme Court.

THE LAST PAGE

ByS N SINHA

President, IndianJournalists Union

DISAPPOINTINGJUDGMENT

A

34

july 2017 35

july 201736

Printed & Published by Devulapalli Amar. Printed at Sai Likitha Printers, Khairatabad, Hyderabad- 500 004. Owned by Indian journalists union, 5-9-60/B Deshoddharaka Bhavan, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad- 500 001, Telangana. Editor: K Amarnath

Email: [email protected], RNI No:TELENg/2017/72414 Ph: 040-23232660

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