Threat on media
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: September 05, 2013 -
Journalists' Sit-In-Protest against intimidation to media fraternity by a militant group on 03 Sep 2013 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam
Long before the history of Indian press started its journey with publication of the first newspaper, 'Bengal Gazette', in Kolkata in the year 1780, Junius wrote in one of his Letters, "Let it be impressed upon your minds, let it be instill into your children, that the liberty of press is the palladium of all the civil, political and religious rights…".
Junius was the pseudonym of a writer who contributed a series of letters to the 'London Public Advertiser' published by Harry Sampson Woodfall from January 21, 1769 to January 21, 1772.
Although Junius made the reference in the context of ensuring 'civil, political and religious rights of Englishmen', this particular quote has been reproduced an umpteen number of times by advocates of free speech around the world to drive home the point of importance of free press/media in any human society over the centuries.
But the question of how free is media in performing its duty of disseminating information to the people continues to haunt the mind of the journalists all over the globe and the debate over media censorship and control by both State and non-State actors continue to remain a raging debate even in this 21st century of unmatched information technology.
And, this is all the more so particularly in Manipur, one of the constituent States in a country supposedly the largest democracy in the world.
How free is the freedom of press in Manipur? Perhaps, this is one question every media person, who is true to their professional calling of disseminating information to the public, must have asked a thousand times in Manipur.
From the days of letter press to the wave machines, media in Manipur may have come of age and a long way too.
But, ironically, this growth and growing importance of media has itself come to pose a serious threat on the working of media persons in a free environment in Manipur today.
Apart from authoritarian directives that the Government and its agencies issue from time to time, the working of media in Manipur has come under threats and undue pressures from all quarters.
In the latest incident, blanking out of the editorial on the September 2 edition of all newspapers published from Imphal, and then, suspension of publication for the next two days following persistent threats not only on media persons but also on innocent newspaper distributors from a breakaway faction of another faction of an underground group for not carrying their statement, was yet another reminder of the sad reality in which media and media persons have to work in Manipur.
All those who are trying to impose their diktats on media should understand that without an unfettered press, all of the outward forms and structures of free institutions are a sham, and if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear, then it would make no difference under what form of government we live in.
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