The Enfeeblement of Freedom of Speech under BJP Government and COVID-19.
The BJP Government and Freedom of Speech
Our Prime Minister is one who thrives on controversial Masterstrokes. Often drawing parallels to an ostentatious teenager who acts without much thought. The overnight Demonetisation of the Indian currency in the hopes to curb black money without even doing the bare minimum of printing adequate notes, the repercussion on the Economy, far ebbing. Subjugating the state of Jammu & Kashmir(J&K) to the abrogation of Article 370, which at least constitutionally gave the state a certain degree of autonomy. Enforcing the harshest lockdown on 1.34 Billion people during the 1st wave of the pandemic with only a four-hour notice. Millions of migrant workers went helter-skelter in a state of panic, some even losing their lives in the ordeal of having to walk hundreds of miles home.
What is surprising is the lack of proportional indignation on the part of people and the media to many of the BJP Governments outrageous acts. On August 5, 2019, J&K was stripped out of its autonomy, amidst a military siege, a pre-emptive arrest of its former Chief Minister and 8000 others in addition to a dogmatic communication blackout. It has been a journey of one and a half years — 213 days of absolutely no internet and 550 days of partial or no connectivity — earning India the notorious distinction of the longest internet ban among democratic countries in the world. We are talking about 13 Million people’s lives put on hold. Doctors unable to give a proper diagnosis, Entrepreneurs going bankrupt, the Annihilation of e-commerce, College applications on a hiatus, Government exams aspirants, any kind of aspirant for that matter, for the plethora of competitive exams India conducts, all put on hold, lives uncertain. A blot on democracy. It was as though the media didn’t know how to respond after the revocation of Article 370. There was a deafening silence. A Civil Service Officer Kannan Gopinathan resigned from his post and that sparked some news. In an interview, he says in hindsight, he was happy at least his act of quitting as an IAS officer got the issue some airtime.
The word “anti-national” is strewn around so liberally at individuals who dissent to any of the often discriminatory legislations of the Government. This Government, especially in its second term has come down with an Iron fist on criticism. Slapping the draconian anti sedation UAPA act on journalist and activist, quite liberally. The 2018 PSI report released in January revealed that 5,102 UAPA cases were pending investigation and trial. In 2019 there were widespread protests and unrest in the country after Citizenship Amendment Bill(CAA) and the NRC came into law. This act is“fundamentally discriminatory”, against the minority Muslims in the country and went against the secular ethos of India. Pregnant student leader Safoora Zargar was incarcerated under the UAPA allegedly for conspiring to incite the Delhi riots during these protest. The Delhi High Court released her on June 23 2020, after the central government did not object. Umar Khalid was also booked under the aforesaid reason. Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan is still under arrest under the UAPA act for the Hathras Rape Case. Moreover, it is all too soon to forget the assassination of journalist Gowri Lankesh in 2017, an outspoken left-wing activist.
Journalists, however, are not the only ones under threat. Sometimes, it appears as if the enemy is information itself, along with transparency, exposure, critical thinking — anything and everything that might be seen as characteristic of a free, open society.
“Post the general elections in the spring of 2019, won overwhelmingly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, pressure has increased on the media to toe the Hindu nationalist government’s line”. this was what the press freedom index has to say about India in its 2021report, ranking it 142 out of 180 countries. India shares the classification bad amongst fellow ccounterparts Russia, Mexico and Brazil.
The report further added that “the coordinated hate campaigns waged on social networks against journalists who dare to speak or write about subjects that annoy Hindutva followers are terrifying and include calls for the journalists concerned to be murdered,”
At a time when the BJP possess the sweeping majority in the Lower house of the Parliament and the other largest party, the Indian National Congress(INC) has hardly 55 seats to be even termed as the “leader of the opposition”, the role of media to hold the government accountable is presumably bigger more than ever.
The Pandemic and State Media
The second wave of the COVID pandemic has definitely opened pandora’s box for India’s health care system. The sheer number of dead piling is a testament to that. This time it has brought the country to its knees and then some.
Since the beginning of the gruesome second wave, there has been a lot of outpour on social media, bringing into the spotlight the fate of its helpless citizens. Shedding light on the heart-wrenching plight of the sick, gasping for breath because of inadequate oxygen supply and essential anti-viral drugs. Social media has been a sanctuary of sorts for the thousands who are helpless and in need of medical care. There has been an overwhelming response from online grass-root initiatives to try and fill in gaps and mitigate problems, where Central and the State Government have failed. These have provided respite for hundreds.
Even amidst these cries for help, there have been blatant threats by the BJP poster boy Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adyanath, that the property of anyone spreading “rumours” and propaganda will be seized. Shashank Yadav was booked for spreading misleading information after he tweeted an SOS message for oxygen for his father on 26th April 2021. This happens in spite of the fact that his father passed away due to a cardiac arrest. As Arundathi Roy rightfully writes in her article other grave diseases does not cease to exist just because COVID is rampaging our health care system.
On the same day, his remarks also stunted the initiatives carried out by a volunteer group called the Citizens Aid Collective (CAC). It announced it was ceasing operations in UP.
The Supreme Court in some strong words condemned this and said “the clampdown on information in which citizens are communicating for help will be treated as contempt of court”
There have been several attempts by the Government to crackdown on dissent, Facebook temporarily suspended tweets from the hashtag Resign Modi, though it claims it was a glitch in its system, MEITY had ordered Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to remove/withhold 100-odd posts critical of how the Union government is handling COVID-19’s second wave as illustrated here. This wasn’t unprecedented, In February this year, the Government threatened jail time for Twitter employees if it did not comply to block some 100 odd accounts of individuals who were critical of the government during the Farmers Protest.
Yesterday, 54 people were booked in Pune for ‘objectionable’ social media posts against PM Modi, and former Chief Minister Fadnavis.
The Prime Ministers speech at the World Economic Forum on January 2021 declared India’s success in controlling the Pandemic against the grim odds warned by scientist and “Institutions”. The devastation caused by the 2nd wave has taken everybody by surprise, with reported deaths of over 4000 every day. In hindsight, the content of his speech appears premature to put it kindly. The projections for the coming days seem more akin to the apocalyptic numbers he brushed away. With the tally of the dead estimated to be almost 10 times the reported number, there have been multiple reports of the sheer activity at crematoriums, not reflecting the official reported numbers of COVID deaths.
Accurate data about the Pandamemic is necessary for Scientists to make COVID mitigation plans and prediction models. A petition signed by Scientists across the country for more transparent data to do the aforesaid was sent to the Prime Minister. Infact states have been reluctant to publish data about previous years mortality, which should ideally paint a more accurate picture of the devastation caused by this pandemic. Infact, Kerala was the only state to publish a report articulating its decrease in Annual death counts in 2020 from the previous data sets.
This government is particularly sensitive to dissent. The mainstream state media remains hesitant to explicitly hold the government accountable. They stick to the “system” has failed narrative, without singling out the BJP Government or Prime Minister Modi. The media not bearing witness to these events could roughly be attributed to loyalty for some and Intimidation for others.
When the High Courts were Badass
The crux of the problem in India in this second wave of the pandemic is the dire shortage of oxygen supply. At the time this article is written, there have been 223 incidents of COVID critical patients succumbing to death because of lack of oxygen. These are humans who would have otherwise had a fighting chance to live if only oxygen wasn’t a limiting factor. Several states have moved to the high court to address this predicament.
The Supreme court (SC) of India has had to take the role of an arbitrator between two viciously squabbling Centre(BJP Government)and the Delhi state government. With the Solicitor General of India representing the centre making nonchalant remarks “None of us should dramatise (matters) by ending every sentence with human lives”.
Do lives not matter then?
The high court of Delhi and Allahabad came strongly at the centre for its epic mismanagement and inability to avert this crisis. The Allahabad High Court on 4th May likened the failure to supply UP hospitals with adequate oxygen and the deaths from its absence as being akin to “genocide”.
One of the reasons for the recent exponential cases of COVID is linked to mass rallying for the State Elections without any social distancing. The Election Commission is meant to be an independent constitutional body unwavering to any political party and yet it appears partisan to the BJP government. The Allahabad HC came down strongly on the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission over the deaths of 135 panchayat election officials, while the Madras HC threatened the Election Commission(EC) of India with criminal charges over their failure to maintain Covid-19 protocols during poll campaigns. In protest, the EC approached the Supreme Court whining about the HC’s criticism and asking for censorship of court comments from media.
Islamophobia and other tricks
While the country is drowning in the Crisis, the Right-wing fraction has resorted to spreading sectarian propaganda on social media. From tinting, the party clash violence post the Bengal state election in a completely communal colour to some blatant bigotry and Islamophobia, the Government is trying hard to divert attention from the COVID crisis. The hate speech and fake news that often spreads like wildfire on social media are appalling. Meanwhile, the BJP party itself has been accused of distributing false and misleading information. From basking yourself with cow dung and encouraging consumption of cow urine for immunity, there is a lot out there, often proving unscientific and dangerous in these critical times.
Recently Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Youth Wing President Tejasvi Surya was involved in a spiteful act of religious fundamentalism in Bangalore. He stormed into an ICU helpline call centre and randomly called out 16 Muslim medic staff. They were featured in a series of viral messages claiming that “a team of terrorists” was using the helpline to scam desperate patients by offering ICU beds at a fee or blocking beds for Muslims. Post which they were detained, questioned, suspended and then finally reinstated. These claims were unsubstantiated and they were targeted only because they belonged to a certain religion.
It’s quite evident the Government is trying all it can to evade responsibility and do the one trick it does the best, stroke communal animosity. You can try, but you can’t really ignore the dead washing up ashore.
Meanwhile…
While the world has shown solidarity with India’s mounting crisis, there have also been allegations over the Governments' lack of clarity with its allocation of international aid. The botched up vaccine roll-out has also been a recipe for disaster, with its differential pricing and inadequate procurement.
India is the largest democracy and Freedom of speech is the elixir of her life. The media is the mirror that should reflect on the government from absconding its responsibility. It should be allowed to do its job.
