CURBING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION CONTRASTS FRUITS OF DEMOCRACY
Bureau,Odishabarta
DELHI,11/02/21:The freedom of expression is all the more necessary for the survival and progress of democracy. It’s the freedom of expression which helps in expanding the awareness of the people who are thus able to choose the correct political option. With the freedom of expression journalism rises to the occasion and develops an awareness in the masses and the rulers about the pros and cons of any problem and many a time puts stop to the churning of the false and misleading store of information. However it’s the irony of the situation in a country like India a section of the media instead of giving the correct picture of the event has turned out to be copy paste of the views of the people in the corridors of power. The situation in India has become unprecedentedly unique growing the journalistic vulnerabilities facing the harsh and aggressive response for presenting the truth. The government of the day looks to be interested in muzzling the voice of dissent on one pretext or the other. Calling the spade a spade has become tight rope walking in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
The dissent against the government precepts and policies are not tolerated. Thewell crafted strategy is adopted to crush the dissent taking the shelter of sedition laws to silence the dissent which are done away with even in U K.
The weapon of pseudo nationalism is also used to silence the dissent with the growth of religious fervour and hysteria. Karl Marx termed the religion as the opium of the masses. It’s not the religion which is the opium of the masses but the political misuse of the religion which is the opium of the masses.
The people are brainwashed to believe that that the politics and nationalism are synonymous. The people are made to develop the regrettable understanding that the criticism of certain individuals is harming the national interests. The Godse followers with no secrecy of their non participation in the freedom struggle are issuing the nationalism certificate thus exacerbating the situation for the weak and vulnerable section of the society. In the circumstance the government of the day has lost it’s sleep over the massive farmers protest demanding the repeal of the farming legislation.
The journalists who write on the farmers protest and viewed by the people in the corridors of power lending weight behind the farmers protest are to bear the brunt of the draconian laws like sedition. The eminent journalists like RajdeepSirdesai,Mirnal Pandey,Zafar Aga, Harishnath, Anantnath and Vinod K Joz are booked under sedition and other laws. The allegation is that they provoked violence with the misleading information.
The alleged tweet of the farmer dying by the police bullet became the basis of the prosecution. It is said that the farmer died of the turning of the vehicle but not by the bullet. The tweet was later on withdrawn .The journalism is called literature in hurry. Such errors are inadvertent and unintentional .
The better scenario is captured at the later stage. Shakil Rashid called the prosecution as vendetta in the Mumbai Urdu News.The Times of India in it’s editorial said, ” The FIR lodged in Noida – and Bhopal too against six senior journalists accusing them of several offences ranging from sedition to harming national integrity and promoting communal disharmony smacks of intimidation rather than any real concern for rule of law.” The government of the day comparing the dissent to harming the national interest instead better to listen to the voice of sanity.
Press Note:By; Adv. Masood Peshimam,Kalyan Mob. 8692996463