Harassment against journalists in India has escalated: N. Ram

The charges are more serious. Particular journalists, very often belonging to the Muslim community or those who support minorities very strongly, are being targeted; accepting the present laws as they are, they are also being misused, he says

The harassment against certain journalists in the country has escalated, and journalists from the Muslim community or those supporting the minorities are being targeted, N. Ram, Director of The Hindu Publishing Group, said here on Monday. He also contended that the higher judiciary was inconsistent on free speech and media freedom.

During a panel discussion on ‘Legal Challenges Faced by Journalists in India’ in Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) at Taramani, moderated by Kunal Majumder, India’s representative in the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Mr. Ram pointed out that journalists, who were earlier targeted with civil defamation charges, were now being tried with criminal defamation and then with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The 1967 Act, which goes back a long way, was earlier either rarely or never used but today various agencies played the “tricks”, backed by the Central and various State governments, Mr. Ram said and pointed out the case of journalist Siddique Kappan, who remained in jail even though the Supreme Court had put the sedition law on hold. Tamil Nadu was in a much better space than many other States in India, Mr. Ram said.

Elaborating on the “decline of institutions” in India, Mr. Ram referred to attempts by the police, the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies and explained how one of the agencies was trying to insinuate one of the co-founders of Alt News in a charge.

“They are escalating the attack on particular journalists,” he said.

“The harassment has escalated, and charges are more serious. Particular journalists, very often belonging to the Muslim community or those who support minorities very strongly, like Teesta Setalvad, are being targeted. We have to say it out loud,” Mr. Ram said and maintained that he would regard Ms. Setalvad as a journalist and an activist. “It is hard to separate journalism from some kind of activism,” he added.

Communalism as a “political mobilisation strategy” was being used, he said, and added that it had major consequences and the media, particularly those sections, which were independent or fiercely independent and do investigations, were being targeted.