Press Freedom?

To protest against the growing atrocities by the state police and authorities, nearly a hundred Manipuri journalists surrendered their accreditation cards on October 27 along with a letter to the Prime Minister. The letter was to be passed through the Director of Information Manipur to Dr. Manmohan Singh. Exasperated with incidents in the recent past where journalists were targeted by the police, the protesting media commented that it was safer for them to function as ordinary citizens than as journalists.

The letter addressed to the Prime Minister by All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) says:
“In the recent past, the state government had been trying to browbeat journalists in Manipur into submission with threats of de-registration and state action compounded by an arrogant state police force, already infamous with widespread allegations of staging numerous fake encounters, the most recent being the July 23, 2009 ….

The most recent cases of intimidation of the Press are: storming of some media houses in Imphal by goons of chief minister Shree Okram Ibobi Singh's home constituency of Thoubal with active support from the state police force on 25 September, 2009; and threatening of two journalists returning home from duty at gun-point…”

The journalists are vulnerable targets not only in foreign countries; often they are threatened and suppressed even at home.

The penalization of the media by the government is not a recent phenomenon. Whenever a government is under scrutiny or under the strict watch of the human rights groups, media becomes the obvious target of suppression.

Last year, during the Eelam War IV, Sri Lanka was under the constant watch of the international human rights groups. Instead of improving on the human rights front, the Sri Lankan government narrowed down the Press Laws further. . The official government line was sternly repeated "Criticism and dissent in times of war is treason."
When the war commenced, suppression of media freedom and threats to journalists increased. Over the last three and a half years, 20 journalists and media workers have been killed.

On 6 January 2009, the studio of the Maharaja Television Network was attacked by armed gunmen. Two days later, the editor of Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunga was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle when he was on his way to work.

The assassination became remarkable because of the editorial he wrote in anticipating his death in which he blamed the Rajapaksa government for using assassination as a tool to repress the media. He said “Murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty”
Foreign correspondents covering countries which are subjects of controversies internationally are often imprisoned on espionage charges. These countries who try hard to keep their furtive affairs from the western world keep a stringent watch on reporters who come from overseas.
On October 17, Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was freed after spending 120 days in Tehran's Evin prison. The "Newsweek" correspondent was covering the controversial presidential elections in Tehran.

Similarly, two US journalists were arrested by North Korea on charges of espionage. They were sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment each. Only after massive intervention by the US Government, they were released.

Press freedom, which is essential in a democracy, is being curtailed especially in conflict zones. Hundreds of journalists are killed every year. If the situation continues, there might be a time when, like the Manipuri journalists, people will choose to remain common citizens than continue their work as journalists