By Mira Kamdar, Editorial Observer,
The New York Times,
26 October 2017.
NEW DELHI:
A businessman told me he had
stopped going on-line to buy books that the government might frown upon because
he was afraid officials would track his purchases.
There’s good
reason for such fears, another businessman said: “You go to a party where there
are a dozen people you’ve known for years. Someone says something mildly
critical of the government, and then you learn that person’s office was paid a
visit the next day by the income-tax authorities.”
These were not
reflections on life in some police state. These were conversations I had this
month (October 2017) during a visit to India, a country I’ve been visiting
for nearly 60 years.
It’s no secret
that attacks on freedom of expression have accelerated since the election of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014. Yet,
nothing prepared me for the pervasive anxieties I encountered on this trip.
While freedom of speech has never been an absolute right in India, I always
thought that this raucous democracy would ultimately overcome any blanket
effort to quash dissent, as it did when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a
state of emergency and clamped down on the news media in 1975.
But I was
stunned when a well-known writer in New
Delhi confided that she and others used encrypted
communications. “We’re all on ProtonMail and Signal at this point,” she said.
Others said they only communicated on WhatsApp.
“All of our phones are tapped,” declared
a news editor in Mumbai.
As the
comments from businessmen indicate, the fears I heard weren’t limited to
journalists and writers disinclined to support Mr. Modi. People who had
appreciated the pro-business elements of his candidacy and who still have hope
for his economic policies, expressed similar concern.
Journalists, though, have
particular reason for fear.
In June, the Central
Bureau of Investigation raided residences and offices connected to the founders
of N.D.T.V., an influential cable TV station and online news outlet that has
had run-ins with Mr. Modi’s government. The Editors Guild of India and leading
media figures condemned the raid But a magazine editor confided, “Of course we
are afraid; they could go
after anyone
in our family, at any time.”
Even more
disturbing have been a series of unsolved murders of journalists, and punitive
legal actions against the news media.
The online
news outlet The Wire was slapped with a criminal defamation suit after it
published a story this month alleging that Jay Shah, son of Amit Shah, the
powerful head of Mr. Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party, has profited
handsomely under Mr. Modi’s government. Then, last week, a court in Gujarat — where Mr. Modi was formerly chief minister — barred
the news outlet from publishing any stories “directly or indirectly” about Jay
Shah until the suit was resolved. Defiant, The Wire posted a photo of the
order, vowing, “It goes without saying that this attempt to gag The Wire will
not go unchallenged.”
On Monday, 23
October, the B.J.P.-led government in Rajasthan State
introduced an ordinance in the state’s Legislative Assembly that would
essentially bar reporting of government malfeasance by requiring government
permission to investigate “both serving and former judges, magistrates and
public servants for on-duty actions.” It would also make it illegal to “print or
publish or publicize in any manner the name, address, photograph,
family details
or any other particulars which may lead to disclosure of identity of a judge or
magistrate or a public servant against whom” an investigation is pending.
Not all the Indians I spoke with
were so uneasy. Many citizens remain outspoken.
Courageous
journalists continue to fight to do their job. But the growing fear of Indians
to speak, to write and even to read freely poses a grave threat to one of the
world’s great democracies.
© 2017 The New
York Times Company
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“Those who have put out the people’s
eyes,
reproach them of their blindness.”
– John Milton (1608-74)
My dear friends, colleagues and students,
I have posted this piece by Mira Kamdar of The New York Times, because it captures accurately the fear that permeates newspaper offices and invades the homes of ordinary Indian citizens. Let me tell U a story of when I was 24.
I have posted this piece by Mira Kamdar of The New York Times, because it captures accurately the fear that permeates newspaper offices and invades the homes of ordinary Indian citizens. Let me tell U a story of when I was 24.
My
companions and I had boarded the night train from Mumbai to Pune. Then we were
to catch an ST bus to Pathardi, a taluka headquarter in Ahmednagar district of
Maharashtra. Here, we were doing drought relief work in some villages, since August 1973.
When we
reached Pune early in the morning, we were struck by the blank white boxes,
instead of the usual news-items, on the front-pages of some newspapers. There were
hardly any people on the roads, as if a curfew had been imposed. The Congress government, led by Indira Gandhi, had declared a state of
emergency. The empty spaces in the papers meant pre-censorship by the
government.
The date: 26
June 1975.
The next few months
would be critical. Though we were strictly doing drought relief work,
the local leaders felt threatened. Soon, we had to leave our villages; abandon
our social work and move back to Mumbai.
Here we became part of the nation-wide
movement against the Emergency. During those days, we met young activists who were protesting on the streets. Most belonged to opposition parties. But a tiny fraction belonged to the RSS.
Since May 2014, "they have managed to place" some of its members into leading positions of state power: as the prime minister, some chief ministers, many union and state ministers, the vice-president and the president.
These leading members of the RSS have learned well their lessons of the Indira Emergency. Now in power, they dare not impose a state of emergency like the one they fought against, but eventually have benefitted from.
It is clear "they" are being creative and innovative. The Modi Emergency is similar to but also different from the Indira Emergency in many ways. On this blog, we shall report some of "their" ways.
It is clear "they" are being creative and innovative. The Modi Emergency is similar to but also different from the Indira Emergency in many ways. On this blog, we shall report some of "their" ways.
One of them is tapping phones and monitoring blog-posts, like this one.
Peace and love,
Joe Pinto, Pune, India.
