28 Jun The Editors Guild needs to grow a spine
On May 13th 2020, the Editors Guild of India released a statement sharing its concern of a growing pattern of misuse of criminal laws to intimidate journalists in different parts of the country. This statement was further followed by a statement on June 8th, 2020 where the Editors Guild of India again stated its concern on the growing tendency among police in various states to take cognisance of frivolous charges against journalists and convert them into FIRs.
These anodyne statements and selectivity of the Editors Guild is plain shameful. The Guild led by Shekhar Gupta has become an anachronistic protector of the media elite. Its selectivity, in naming some governments and administrations and not all governments making such frivolous charges, has dented its credibility. A Guild that represents and protects only a section of the media that one socializes with and is aligned with ideologically, is not a guild but an “old boys club”. If the members of the guild cannot grow a spine then it should make way for others who can actually stand up to school yard bullies like the West Bengal police under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Did the Editor’s Guild not think of OpIndia as a case worth mentioning? OpIndia CEO, Rahul Roushan in his article Nupur J Sharma vs The State of West Bengal: A little story about OpIndia that was not mentioned in the Supreme Court states the high-handed nature of the West Bengal Police under Mamata Banerjee. Rahul in his article states that Nupur’s “husband was interrogated too, who had nothing to do with OpIndia, except that a mobile number that was issued in his name was used by Nupur. Her father was “advised” too, that for a 70 years old man like him, it was going to be painful to see his young daughter and son-in-law go to jail“
It thus becomes incumbent for all citizens to put pressure whenever the state uses its instruments to bully the free media. Nupur in her appearance on Arnab Goswami’s Republic clearly stated “I picked up my pen because others sold theirs”. Kudos to the daily warriors such as Nupur who work for the upkeep of Dharma. The silent majority now need to stand up for her when she is being bullied by the West Bengal Government.
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