Vijay. S. Raghavan, a reader from Navi Mumbai, often writes to The Hindu. His interests include the Indian Readership Survey, typography and newspaper design, sports, and economics. He frequently compares and contrasts the way various English language newspapers publish a story and shares his views with us. Mr. Raghavan took serious exception to my last column, “Selective silence leads to calamities” (September 2). His contention was that no one is sure who is right and who is wrong on the Jammu and Kashmir situation.
After criticising the role played by the political families of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Abdullahs and Mufti Sayeeds, Mr. Raghavan contended that the Modi government should be given a long rope to bring about law and order in the region. He then spoke of the exodus of Pandits from the Valley and said that no media came to their rescue then. He cited cross-border terrorism to justify the curbing of freedom of both the citizens of Kashmir and the media. He declared that there is “no use in lamenting on the freedom of press under these unusual circumstances in Kashmir.”
A flawed argument
There are many problems with Mr. Raghavan’s contention. They go against the grain of responsible journalism and the commitment of the state to its own citizens. Since 2014, an oft-repeated argument from some is that the media should refrain from premature criticism when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government announces certain policies and the government should be given the benefit of the doubt and time to prove itself. This was the refrain when the huge economic fiasco called demonetisation was unleashed on citizens. It grew louder when the government failed to smoothly roll out the Goods and Services Tax.
The government’s failures are evident on multiple fronts. In the realm of foreign policy, India’s relationship with every neighbouring country is under strain. In the area of cooperation with developed economies, the failure to gain entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group stands out like a sore thumb. If supporters of the government had avoided this argument then, the economy would not have reached its present nadir. The latest estimates for GDP show that year-on-year growth in the April-June period slid for a fifth straight quarter to 5%, the slowest pace in more than six years. An editorial in this newspaper, “On the edge” (September 4), documented the slowdown in some of the key areas. It said: “Disconcertingly, the mainstay of demand — private consumption spending — slumped to an 18-quarter low, with the expansion decelerating sharply to 3.1%, from 7.2% in the preceding quarter and 7.3% a year earlier. Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), a proxy for investment activity, grew a meagre 4%, less than a third of the 13.3% growth it posted 12 months earlier.”
Facing the reality
The media is not the government’s headline management arm aimed at distracting citizens from scrutinising the government’s functioning. It is citizens who gain when the media takes the lead in providing credible information and cuts through the clutter of official rhetoric to make sense of the government’s claims. It is important for people who talk about giving the benefit of the doubt and time to the government to realise that this is the BJP-led NDA’s government’s second term. It is important for citizens to remember what Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself said in 2014 on completion of the first month of his tenure: “Emergency is a grim reminder of the dangers associated with subverting freedom of speech, press, expression and silencing opposition.”
“News behind the barbed wire”, an exhaustive study produced by the Network of Women in Media, India, and the Free Speech Collective, presents a very grim picture of the ground reality in Kashmir, which is vastly different from what the government wants us to believe. Mr. Raghavan should read this report, which states among many things that there is a growing silence of voices from Kashmir expressing alienation. The report points out how the government’s control of the communication processes is intrinsically undemocratic and harmful as it privileges voices of authority and weakens those who speak truth to power.
It is the duty of the press to point out the failure of the state and to be on the side of the citizens when their fundamental rights are being trampled upon.
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in