In a world where freedom of speech and expression is paramount, the annual observance of 3rd May as ‘World Press Freedom Day’ is significant. It is also a day on which the prestigious ‘Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) releases its annual World Press Freedom Index. This Index, known for its authenticity, accuracy and objectivity, highlights the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations and netizens have in each country, and the government’s efforts to respect such freedom. 

The 2022 edition of this Index shows that India’s press freedom ranking has fallen from 133 out of 180 countries in 2016 to 150 in 2021. This is not only a great shame for a country which is apparently becoming more and more arrogant on the world stage, but a clear indictment of the terrible state of affairs of a nation which is the world’s biggest democracy!

The Index, which is a barometer of ‘freedom’ in the 180 countries surveyed, has strong remarks on India. It states: “The violence against journalists, the politically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in the world’s largest democracy, ruled since 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the embodiment of the Hindu nationalist right.”  

The report goes on to add, “Originally a product of the anti-colonial movement, the Indian press used to be seen as fairly progressive but things changed radically in the mid-2010s, when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister and engineered a spectacular rapprochement between his party, the BJP, and the big families dominating the media. The prime example is undoubtedly the Reliance Industries group led by Mukesh Ambani, now a personal friend of Modi, who owns more than 70 media outlets that are followed by at least 800 million Indians.”

The Report highlights several dimensions of the pathetic state of ‘freedom of speech and expression’ in India which are violative of Article 19 of the Constitution. (This same freedom is also guaranteed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The Article guarantees freedom of speech which is the right to express one's opinion freely without any fear through oral/written/electronic/broadcasting/press. Freedom of expression includes the ‘Freedom of Press’. 

Article 19 includes the right to ‘seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’ Although individuals enjoy the same rights online as well as offline, states are also censoring, and sometimes criminalizing, a wide range of online content via vague or ambiguous laws aimed at prohibiting free speech. 

The RSF Index states that several Indian journalists who are critical of the government had to face harassment, intimidation and even death; in the four months, since the beginning of 2022, thirteen journalists are languishing in jail and one, Rohit Kumar Biswal, a reporter and photographer for the Odia-language newspaper Dharitri, was killed instantly when an IED exploded on 5 February near Karlakhunta bridge in Kalahandi district, about 400 km west of Bhubaneswar, the state Capital. 

The Report emphatically maintains that, “terrifying coordinated campaigns of hatred and calls for murder are conducted on social media, campaigns that are often even more violent when they target women journalists, whose personal data may be posted online as an additional incitement to violence. The situation is also still very worrisome in Kashmir, where reporters are often harassed by police and paramilitaries, with some being subjected to so-called “provisional” detention for several years.”

The fact is that the Government is vindictive and brooks no dissent. Any one who takes a stand against their anti-people policies, the divisive and discriminatory agenda is on the receiving end of unabated harassment, intimidation, investigation, and denigration. On the other hand, if you are a ‘bhakt,’ a follower of those in the ruling regime, you can happily indulge in hate speech, incite people to violence against the minorities, use abusive and derogatory language even in a so-called ‘dharma sansad’ and well, you can even get away with murder. For example, on 1 January, ‘Bulli Bai’, an app hosted on Github, had listed several Indian Muslim women, including journalists, for ‘auction’ with their photographs doctored and sourced without their permission. In 2021, a similar app called ‘Sulli Deals‘, which was also hosted on Github, had listed hundreds of Muslim women for “auction”. ‘Bulli/Sulli’ are Islamophobic slurs referring to Muslim women, alterations of the term ‘Mulli’ often used by the right wing to troll Muslim women.

At every ‘dharma sansad’ in the recent past, provocative speeches have been made targeting the minorities of the country. In December 2021, a three-day 'dharma sansad' held in Haridwar, hogged national headlines for hate speeches targeting the Muslim community. Practically nothing has happened to any of the speakers and/or organisers. Significantly enough, on 27 April, the Supreme Court did intervene. A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar said, “You (Uttarakhand government) know what are the preventive measures and you will have to take them. And if it (hate speech) still happens, we will ask your chief secretary to remain present. We are directing you to take all the necessary steps. You are bound to do it. You are not doing any favour to anyone by following the directions of this court.” 

Observing that state authorities are “duty bound” to stop hate speeches at religious events, the Supreme Court directed the Uttarakhand government to ensure that no hate speeches are delivered at the dharma sansad planned to be held in Roorkee on that day, and demanded an explanation from the state chief secretary on the steps taken to prevent “unwarranted utterances” and the actions taken against such speakers. But is anyone listening to the clear directives of the Supreme Court on hate speech?

On the other hand, there is the recent case of Jignesh Mevani MLA, a prominent leader of the Dalits in Gujarat and also a journalist-lawyer-turned-politician. Just before the arrival of the Prime Minister Modi in Gujarat some weeks ago Mevani tweeted, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who considers Godse as his god, is going on a Gujarat tour from April 20. I appeal to him that he should appeal for calm in Himmat Nagar, Khambhat and Veraval where communal violence broke out. Can we at least hope for this much from the maker of the grand temple.” Mevani was referring to the violence targeting Muslims in different areas of Gujarat on the festival of Ram Navami. 

On 20 April night, Mevani, the independent MLA from Vadgam seat in Banaskantha, (who recently joined Congress), was arrested by the Assam Police from Palanpur town in Gujarat and was taken to Assam by air in the early hours of 21 April. This arrest took place soon after a First Information Report (FIR) under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with offences related to promoting enmity between communities, was registered at Kokrajhar police station in Assam. 

According to a complaint filed against Mevani, his tweet “has the propensity to disturb public tranquillity, prejudicial to maintenance of harmony among a certain section of people.” The complaint also added that the tweet may “incite a section of the masses” and may also “destroy the social fabric.” The complaint sought an FIR against Mevani as “it is suspected that there may be some unseen hands trying to capitalize on such sensitive issues to disturb the unity, peace and brotherhood.”

Four days after his arrest, Mevani was granted bail. Interestingly, immediately after he was released on bail, he was rearrested for ‘allegedly assaulting’ a policewoman whilst in police custody. On 29 April, however, the Barpeta Sessions Court in Assam, granted Mevani bail, terming the second First Information Report (FIR) against him as fabricated. The Sessions Judge Aparesh Chakravarty in his order stated, "Converting our hard-earned democracy into a police state is simply unthinkable. If the instant case is accepted to be true and in view of the statement of the woman recorded by the magistrate...which is not, then we will have to rewrite the criminal jurisprudence of the country…Contrary to the FIR (first information report), the woman has given a different story before the learned magistrate... In view of the testimony of the woman, the instant case is manufactured for the purpose of keeping the accused Jignesh Mevani in detention for a longer period, abusing of the process of the court and the law." 

On 2 May, in a well-publicised media conference in Delhi, Mevani lashed out at the ruling regime, particularly at the Prime Minister. He said that the cases lodged against him were part of a “pre-planned conspiracy to destroy and defame” him ahead of the Assembly polls in Gujarat. He said, “some Godse bhakts who are sitting in the PMO were behind my arrest. They took me with them but did not give me the details of the case. I am a lawyer and a lawmaker. They did not tell me the sections used against me, and did not allow me to talk to my parents. I was not allowed to speak to my lawyer and there was a blatant disregard to protocol for an MLA. They did not even tell the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Speaker about it…. Later, they linked another case to a woman. This is the fearfulness of 56-inch. How can you file a false case linked to a woman about an MLA 2,500 km away?”

Mevani also referred to the famous dialogue from the South Indian movie Pushpa; the legislator said that he would not bow down to such pressures as he is “fire” and not a “flower”. He added that there is every chance that the government may have “planted something” in his electronic devices, including the mobile phones and laptops seized from him and his team members. 

He also stated that there had been 22 instances of question paper leak in Gujarat, but no case had been lodged, no arrests made or no investigation carried out. He further said, “Neither was there any probe into the huge drug haul at Mundra port nor were there investigations or arrests into the allegations of rape levelled against a Gujarat Minister by a Dalit woman. A call for genocide of a particular community was made from a Dharam Sansad but no action was taken.” 

In an interesting development, on 5 May, a magisterial court in Gujarat's Mehsana convicted Mevani and nine others in a case of holding a rally in July 2017 without the permission of the police. He is currently on a one-month bail. The modus operandi by the ruling regime and their ilk is very clear: Mevani is a threat to their rule, he is a popular leader who can pull the rug from under their feet. 

There is perhaps another strategy of the BJP trying to ‘demonise’ the Congress by portraying it as an ‘only-for-Dalits’ party in Gujarat and thereby polarising and hopefully ensuring the continued hegemony by some of the upper castes in the state. When the ruling party ‘idolises’ Godse and also organised an elocution competition for some Gujarat schools with a ‘Godse as hero’ topic – one naturally fails to understand why Mevani has to be hauled up. Whatever be the other reasons, Mevani is primarily a dissenter and going by the current diktat, he has to be throttled! 

There are also the many instances of those illegally incarcerated under the UAPA, sedition and under draconian laws of the country. Those still languishing in jail in the concocted Bhima-Koregaon conspiracy case (late Fr Stan Swamy was a victim too) without any reprieve is an example of how any form of dissent or criticism or for that matter siding with the exploited and the excluded, will not be tolerated in any way by the powerful of the country. 

In 2019, a news story highlighted how the Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to target activists and human rights lawyers. On 27 October, 2021, the Supreme Court constituted a three-member committee to determine, among other things, whether Pegasus was used on phones or other devices of citizens to access stored data, eavesdrop on conversations, and intercept information. It also asked the committee to determine whether the software was acquired by a state or the central government, and that if a state, Centre, or any of its agencies had used the software, what laws and procedures had been followed. The final order on this ‘snoopgate’ is yet to be given. 

Significantly, during 2-5 May, 2022, UNESCO and the Republic of Uruguay hosted the annual World Press Freedom Day Global Conference in a hybrid format in Punta Del Este, Uruguay. The Conference addressed the digital era’s impact on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists, access to information and privacy and developed some concrete recommendations to address these challenges. 

On Sunday, 1 May, Pope Francis, speaking to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly address and blessing, said (in advance of World Press Freedom Day): “I render homage to journalists who pay in person for this right.” He cited statistics that 47 journalists were killed and more than 350 jailed last year and gave special thanks to those who, with courage, keep us informed about humanity’s wounds. 

‘Dissent is the highest form of patriotism,’ is a quote attributed to several, over the years. Irrelevant of who said it and when, that is what it should be for a Democracy to be healthy and vibrant. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India today. Every form of dissent is being throttled. Unless this tendency is reined in, the reality will only worsen. We the people of India, must rise now, whatever be the cost, to ensure that freedom of speech and expression belongs to us and no one can take it away from us! 

(Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is a human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer. Contact: cedricprakash@gmail.com )