Expression of Freedom under Attack in Modi's Hindu India

 Since the Muslim-killing riots in the Indian province of Gujarat in 2002, Narendra Modi has been calling India's independent media a threat to the "Akhand Bharat" ideology. There was factual reporting by India's private independent media on the brutal massacre of innocent Muslims. As a result, Narendra Modi was declared a "butcher" (terrorist) by the US Department of State and banned from entering the United States. Even in 2012, when the Indian justice system acquitted Modi of the systematic massacre of Muslims in Gujarat ignoring the investigative reports of the Prime Minister, and declared him innocent. It was the private independent print and electronic media of India at that time that kept Narendra Modi under criticism despite the relief he got from the Gujarat High Court. The publication and broadcast of Modi's Muslim Massacre continued until the Supreme Court of India completely acquitted Narendra Modi and his followers from the charges of the Gujarat Muslim riots in April 2014. On 25 May 2014, Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India, the Indian independent media maintained the tradition of "praising and introducing" Narendra Modi as a special member of the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh (RSS) and murderer. The followers of Hindutva in India gave the shut-up call to all these Indian journalists. Since 1925 Mahabharata The Rashtriya Sevak Sangh,  its workers were labeled extremists in the eyes of the world working for Hindutva.

Narendra Modi's government used almost the same tactics as Hitler did in Nazi Germany to control the journalists who expose the facts in India. On one hand, taxes were imposed on media groups that believed in freedom of expression. On the other hand, obstacles were placed in the way of public and private advertisements they received, and cases were established against journalists who criticized the actions of the Modi government against minorities. Some of them were tortured by unknown persons, and their families were harassed. Some journalists were put in jail. Those who would have apologized without writing and agreed to support Narendra Modi would have been released. . Disgusted by such measures, many journalists were forced to leave India. But media groups like "New Delhi Television Limited" (NDTV) continued to expose the black face of Hindutva to the world, ignoring any pressure and continuing to report attacks on minorities by Hindu extremists supported by facts. . According to the data released by Reporters Without Borders, more than 200 journalists faced arrests and torture during the tenure of Narendra Modi government till 2020. Journalists considered to be against Hindu extremists were ridiculed on social media. The abusive language was not avoided against them by using indecent language. The human rights report released by the US State Department in 2020 about India also contains details of violence against journalists; 55 journalists and editors who criticized the actions of the Narendra Modi government during the corona epidemic alone were arrested by filing various fake cases. Dozens of Kashmiri journalists were detained and some were martyred during the longest curfew in history imposed after the end of the special status of Occupied Kashmir in 2019. In contrast, the private media groups that agreed to support Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Sevak Sangh's "Hindu only India" ideology were rewarded with rich financial benefits.

The ban on free press in India has been ongoing since 2014, but the real shock came when it was revealed in August 2022 that billionaire Gautam Adani, the richest Indian industrialist in Asia and economic facilitator of Narendra Modi's politics, had bought 55% share rights of the NDTV. As this news came to light, India was downgraded to the 150th position in the ranking of freedom of expression in the press. Since Gautam Adani took control of NDTV the change in policy in support of Narendra Modi and Hindutva was clearly felt on NDTV channels. The ongoing debate over restrictions on journalism in India has revealed that NDTV has been so crippled commercially over the past few years that it has become impossible for it to continue broadcasting. Now there are reports that Gautam Adani is trying to buy private television channels. Ravish Kumarjas coined the term godi (adopted) media for private media supporting Narendra Modi and Hindutva, and the term became popular in Indian journalism. The same Ravish Kumar has said after his resignation from NDTV that after the destruction of democracy in India, capitalists are now being used to strangle the freedom of the press. He has questioned how Gautam Adani's wealth, which was only seven billion dollars in 2014, has increased to 110 billion dollars during Narendra Modi's regime, in which further growth is continuing rapidly. Ravish Kumar said that after the rights of India's three major airports and many railway contracts were given to Gautam Adani, now Narendra Modi wants Gautam Adani's control over Indian media as well. Commenting on the secret sale of EVs, Brussels-based Foreign Policy (FP) columnist Aanchal Wehrane in his recent column titled "India's Free Press Just Became Less Free" expressed concern over the Narendra Modi government's policy against press freedom in India. Expressing this, it has been described as a serious threat to human rights in India. Al Jazeera TV has also brought this topic under discussion. Geeta Seshu, an activist for freedom of expression in India, says that the series of strangulation of truth-telling journalists in India has been going on for the past few years. Now it has intensified and journalists who believe in freedom of expression have been restricted in India. Geeta is engaged in fighting a legal battle for dozens of jailed journalists through her organization. They were arrested a year or so ago for criticizing Narendra Modi's anti-minority policies and are not being granted bail. Commenting on the Narendra Modi government's growing control over independent private electronic and print media in India, the majority of Indian intellectuals agree on one point that it will have the greatest impact on minorities and their rights, which are already under attack. 

Urdu Copy

Written by Khalid Baig,

Published in Daily Nawa-i-Waqt,

Date: 13 January 2022