Skip to content Skip to navigation

Can the Free Press be gagged?

The recent Meghalaya High Court ban on coverage of calls for bandh, shutdown, hartal, road blockade and others issued by militant organizations, pressure groups and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organization) has put the fourth estate in a spot of botheration. The social media is aghast with the ban whereas the general public – who are the worst sufferers out of such shutdowns – hailed it. Interesting comments can be seen in the social media where there are opinions that people may be caught unaware about a proposed or effective bandh and rest of it, if that is not disseminated. Then there are also opinions about the judiciary infringing into the Free Press and exerting its authority on it. These versions are debatable since if a tourist, say, wants to visit this part of the country, they enquire in advance about the ground situation. Over these years of militancy, NGOs, pressure groups and the rest of it has created such a psychosis about this region in the minds of one and all elsewhere that despite the ground realities visitors makes it doubly sure before visiting here. Even the local tribal from Meghalaya who are settled in mainland follows the same trend since they too aren’t sure about the existing state. Moreover there are enough instances when strikes, rallies etc. were publicized in the media beforehand and yet people caught unaware. A prime example from recent history in this regard was the Khasi National Awakening Movement rally of 2013 when local tribesmen dressed in traditional attires attacked innocent tourists and traders in broad daylight in Laitumkhrah area of Shillong town. So what is this fuss about media dissemination?

About media’s rights being infringed upon by the judiciary it is a farcical opinion. The rights which the Free Press carries are not as fragile as the much touted “theoretical and imprisoned” matrilineal setup we get to see in Meghalaya that by not carrying some hoax messages, as termed by the High Court, it is going to be diluted. The writer have come across many media persons in the state including editors of dailies who are skeptical about such nondescript emails sent by organizations and groups and publishes them hesitantly. The writer is told that such practices of publishing emails as lead news in front pages of local dailies is not found or seen elsewhere in the country other than the Northeastern region of India. This practice of feeding verbatim to the press, sometimes even via sms, has spread like plague and it is indeed painful to see media houses embracing them despite being sent by some vested interest groups. Soon after the ban order by the High Court, this writer received several responses from the commoners. One comment came from an aspiring journalist who said that letters to the editor are dumped by local dailies since editors suspect their genuineness whereas these hoax messages finds place in front pages of dailies. So what trend are we setting here? Nonetheless, the uncertainty that loomed large over such messages and their publication have been put to rest and many media persons too along with commoners have hailed it since now there is clarity.

There were enough calls from citizens of Meghalaya to stop publishing calls for bandh, blockades etc. by organizations in the local media but those were never adhered to. And now when the state DGP (Director General of Police) had moved the High Court with a writ petition on which the court pronounced the ban there are questions being raised about the dilution of rights of the Free Press and the rest of it. Should it not have been prudent for the self regulating Free Press to ponder over these messages instead of giving publicity to the minutest of calls from any tom, dick, harry organizations, asks right thinking citizens of the state. Does it need rocket science to realize that had there been some thoughtful action then the move of the incumbent DGP could have been seen elsewhere. In fact these citizens and those from other northeastern states who are in Meghalaya on account of their occupation observed that it is high time that the DGP of their respective states take a leaf out of the Meghalaya episode and reciprocate the same back home. Some residents of Nagaland and Manipur observed that their DGP must initiate similar action to take on organizations verbatim to the local press. Is it not a type of holding the Free Press to ransom that if you want to remain in circulation then obey us? The irony is that these two states have no ban on coverage and relatively a peaceful Meghalaya has a ban in effect.

This development interestingly also brings in the statement by the incumbent state Chief Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma in the floor of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly in the recent past when he likened the local media houses as mouthpieces of militant organizations in the state. The CM since then is facing a media vacuum but if two-legged snipers from the main civil secretariat are to be believed then he can’t be more dissatisfied with the development since the ban is in line with what he said. In a democracy every citizens have the right to give an opinion. According to canteen gossips and social media chats, there is another alleged version where many are of the opinion that the ban has been orchestrated by the government in power through the police chief. But the press fraternity here should not give too much importance to these issues since their freedom is not chained like that of the government which literally scrambles whenever the banned militant outfit HNLC (Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council) declares a bandh. Now with the ban in place it will be interesting to see what changes take place if there happens to be another bandh. The Free Press should be bold enough to scrutinize this. If there is any marked change visible sans coverage to such calls for bandh, blockade etc. then it should be understood that the media was the shoulder from which these organizations were shooting for so long. And if that is not so then the Free Press knows how to go about it. The press need not clarify that it is the mouthpiece of the people – who forms the greater civilization. Given the condition in Meghalaya with so many parallel governments in NGOs, district councils, student unions, pressure groups and what have they, one can only wonder the pandemonium around if there are no media here.

Author info

Rajiv Roy's picture

Shillong

Add new comment

Random Stories

Who is BJP's CM candidate: Gaurav

23 Aug 2015 - 7:01pm | AT News
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma’s entry into BJP will put the people in utter confusion over the chief ministerial candidate.Hours after Dr Sarma unofficially joined BJP,...

Police file APSC probe status report

23 Sep 2017 - 8:33am | AT News
The Dibugarh police probing the APSC scam on Friday filed its status report before a special Court in Guwahati with details of 25 ACS and APS officers who allegedly paid cash to chairman...

Liquor addiction spoils social character

28 Jul 2012 - 12:13am | Daya Nath Singh
I remember the day when my news report about Assam state’s excise department’s inaction in respect of auctioneering of liquor sales system in Guwahati, was not published in the news paper...

EC raid at hotel with BK Handique

29 Mar 2014 - 9:55pm | AT News
The Election Commission seems to have stepped up efforts to enforce model code of conduction for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.Flying squads on Saturday suddenly conducted a raid at a hotel in...

Other Contents by Author

Away from the seemingly causes that led to the pandemic called Novel Coronavirus aka CoViD-19 it cannot be denied that it can well be attributed to the bitter spat between USA and China over trade. The CoViD-19 could well be a creation out of vengeance after what we have witnessed in terms of sanctions on imports by both nations. The arrest of Dr. Charles Lieber - the Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University for making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the US Defense Department about China's Thousand Talents Plan (a Chinese government program to recruit foreign scientists and researchers) and his affiliation with Wuhan University of...
Can anyone advice Rahul Gandhi (RaGa) that what he and the other nincompoops of the Indian National Congress (INC) are doing in the name of electioneering campaign by targeting the defence forces of the country is only going to decimate their prospect – even if there is any, left? What does it take really to win elections in this country? The defence personnel who are keeping their territory safer from external aggression are being targeted by the INC, insanely. Can RaGa and his inept sister, Priyanka – and her equally inept hunk, Robert Vadra, breath freely if the soldiers in the country aren’t keeping it safe. Can anyone, and for that matter of fact the president of one of the country’s...
An employment advertisement that caused more inconvenience to applicants than providing them with jobs has resulted in the advertiser to issue a statement regretting the inconvenience and correct the blunder being committed, after the matter was reported in the local media, while the affected ones are questioning if the media can really wash off its hands and whether it should not be held responsible, at the same time. Abhinandan Vartaman, the Indian Air Force (IAF) combat pilot has earned immeasurable appreciation, for his valour and courage, from the countrymen after the heroics shown by the force and especially him – who shot down an F-16 jet of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) – that...
Well Mr. Donald Trump, the outlandish and outspoken US President, with his usual signature facial expression said recently that “walls work” with regard to his decision to construct a border wall, along the border of US-Mexico and even declare a national emergency after the US Congress (the lawmaking branch of the national government) declined to his demands for billions of dollars to fund the proposed wall at the southern border. The president has earned a slew of lawsuits over his emergency move and one may well wander whether such a wall is required in India’s northeast which faces a serious threat to its demography. Arguably, the US President’s idea on a border wall may well be correct...
There are opinions among the tribesmen of Meghalaya that the sweeper lane issue in Shillong town has gone colder since May 31 when mayhem broke over this place near Iewduh, one of the largest traditional markets in the region. That such opinions being held by the native citizenries in a society where matriliny has hit such a low that the fairer sexes are facing insecurities in their own hearth and homes, is in itself, morbid. An incident over an alleged eve-teasing went out of proportion when the local tribesmen clashed with the residents of Sweeper’s Lane, inviting global attention to the issue. The stalemate that exists in this lane dates back to time immemorial and history is replete...
We need to use the social media wisely. But this call is getting lost in a world where anything that is talked about online are caricatured by opportunistic and outrage-mongers. This medium, which is creating more upheavals than connections in societies around the world, should be understood that we choose to assimilate these services into our daily lives because they allow us to deepen social connections and enable us to exercise ourselves in a manner that was unthinkable before their coming.  Many would agree to the fact that after “nature” comes only “social media” in terms of gross misuse. We are witnessing the phenomenon of changing patterns in climate and irrational nature...
If we are to assess one thing clearly about the 2018 Assembly Election to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly at this point in time then it is the focus and charisma that is awaited coming January. Except that, the assurances, claims, slamming of one party by another will continue to rule the roost and this is not something new in the Indian political diaspora. Nonetheless, this is going to be the most sought after elections given the emerging complex political equations. There is much at stake in this election when the sixty seats to the state assembly goes up for grabbing no sooner the Election Commission of India releases the dates. There is much expectation from the BJP which has since...
Award winning Shillong based author, Kalpana Roy’s ‘Sei Somoy Perie’ (Beyond that period) covers a period of Indian independent movement in the then Bengal, which very soon spread over the entire Indian sub-continent. The book received the prestigious Narsingdas Bengali Prize for the best book in Bengali in Arts / Science subject from the University of Delhi in 2014. The central character of the book – published in April, 2012 – is the renowned independent movement activist from this part of the country, Bipin Chandra Pal, who was born in a small village in Sylhet (now in Bangladesh) district of undivided Bengal. The book is primarily a biographical novel on the life of this great freedom...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a successful second visit to United States of America (USA). The major thrust of this visit was centered on his ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ dream as his meeting with numerous business czars and CEOs of top techies in USA is a big diplomatic push in that direction. While a purring Indian National Congress (INC) is seen crediting itself for this Digital India drive saying that it was the vision of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and all subsequent governments took forward that dream. This version of the INC has only earned laughing stock from one and all whosoever has come in terms with this baseless self-glory statement. Modi on the other hand is a...
“The northeastern states of India should cooperate with each other in terms of their tourism potentialities, culture and tradition, food habits and create a depot in Japan to invite inbound tourism. The geographical condition, cuisine and taste, good atmosphere here are similar to that of Japan. This will not only transform the economy of this region but also open it up to the larger Asia – which is one,” said the Chairman, Japan India Tourism Promotion Committee, Tsutomu Sato on his second visit to Shillong. His first visit was two years ago when he represented Japan on an invitation by the Meghalaya Government which called tour operators from all over the world.Acknowledging candidly that...