Pillar of democracy?

Via Rising Kashmir

Man was born free but when he chose to become a journalist, he found himself in chains, Zahir-ud-Din comments

It happened yet again last week. The scribes now curse their stars for not being a part of the oldest profession (prostitution). The past two weeks were very difficult for the journalists. Time and again they were humiliated, thrashed and ridiculed. Alas! The second oldest profession is losing its sheen.

The journalists have been at the receiving end during the past twenty years of the on-going conflict. The commoner expects him to play saviour. He is under a mistaken notion that a journalist is all powerful and can perform miracles.  But this is far from the reality. In fact, the journalist is as endangered and helpless as the commoner on the street. They have been killed, abducted, arrested, intimidated and lured by the state and non-state actors. While the people envy the `privileges’ of the scribes, a question haunts all of them. Is it safe to pursue a career in the second oldest profession?

Man was born free but when he chose to become a journalist, he found himself in chains. There are pulls and pressures from every quarter. Gone are the days when a journalist could not, rather would not, differentiate between a cycle accident and end of a civilization. For him both were news. But today news is not sacred. It has to be painted to suit `special’ people.  And when news is painted, truth becomes a casualty.  

Press was never free in Jammu & Kashmir. The persecution of the scribes is not a new phenomenon. It has been happening here from the very beginning.  Immediately after the creation of Pakistan, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah thrashed a reputed journalist Ghulam Ahmad Kashfi who then edited the Khidmat. Sheikh Abdullah sought an explanation from him for not prefixing Quaid-e-Azam to his name.  Kashfi replied: “I know only one Quaid-e-Azam and he is Muhammad Ali Jinnah.” Hearing this, Sheikh Abdullah thrashed him in full public view. Soon after he migrated to Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK). Another journalist, Mir Abdul Aziz was also forced to migrate to PaK.

Pandit Prem Nath Bazaz was shot at. Though he survived, he was directed to leave the state. He lived, for the rest of his life, at New Delhi. His colleague J N Sathu was also persecuted for writing bold editorials.  The editor of Wadi Ki Awaaz was detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) in early 80s for reproducing an article published by a Bangalore newspaper. His arrest saw the doom of his newspaper which had carved out a niche for itself by its fearless reporting.

  
Today it has happened again. Scribes have been humiliated and manhandled. The newspaper owners were forced to suspend publication of their newspapers. Notwithstanding this, the police chief delivers a sermon and tells the scribes to help in restoration of peace. Much has been said and written about the freedom of speech and expression and the freedom of press. But who cares? When it comes to fighting a defiant people seeking their right to self determination, the fundamental rights have to be suspended. In a conflict zone, anything and everything can be done by the men in uniform in their fight for restoration of 'democracy'. They can impose undeclared curfew to restrict the movement of the people, they can open fire and kill people protesting hike in the electricity tariff. Why should anybody, therefore, raise his brows over manhandling of a journalist?  A scribe remains the darling of the government as far as he projects the perpetrators as saviours, he remains in the good books of the security agencies as far as he writes about the medical and veterinary camps they organize in remote villages but as soon as he starts fishing in troubled waters, he cannot and should not expect any prudence from them.     

As rightly pointed out by late J N Sathu, beating and intimidation are hazards of the profession and should not dishearten the journalists. But Sathu lived at a time when the state or the non-state actors did not kill the scribes. In the contemporary times it is an entirely different story.  A journalist can fulfil his professional obligations and serve the people only when he is alive.

The journalists always fight other peoples’ battles and even succeed. They ensure that nobody is subjected to discrimination. They give tongue to the woes of the people and get their problems solved. They are the opinion builders.  The saviour, however, can never play Jesus when he himself is the victim.  In his fight to protect himself he is always alone.  If a journalist cannot save himself what can he do for the people? This harsh reality must dawn on the scribes before it is too late.  Kashmir is the only place where the scribes have not constituted a welfare fund till date. There is no organization that can claim to fight for the rights of the scribes. The local journalists are divided. They rarely meet. The only time they share a common roof is when some one from the fraternity dies. But the spirit soon dies down and the so called saviours find no time to discuss their problems or to chalk out a strategy for their own welfare.  This is why the government makes them dance to their tune by stopping advertisements at crucial junctures.  This is why the non-state actors dare to take them for a ride every now and then.  Looking towards international organizations for support is good but the support from there won’t make any difference unless the scribes stand united here.

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