With a glaring decline in the freedom permitted for media and journalists around the world, the UNESCO’s theme for this year’s World Press Freedom day on May 3 is, “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”. In a shocking report by the International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) showed that at least 95 journalists across the globe were killed during their work.
Looking at India and the regional neighbourhood, countries like Pakistan, Srilanka, China, Afghanistan and Myanmar, the perils and risks in journalism seem to have magnified. As per the World Press Freedom Index, South Asian countries in general have shown a drop in their rankings. China has the lowest ranking at 176 out 180 countries on the list, Pakistan at 147, Bangladesh at 144, Sri Lanka at 141, India at 140, Afghanistan at 120, Nepal at 105 and Bhutan at 94.
India
The situation to get a journalist arrested in India is not created not by a single entity but by the various supporting groups of religion, criminals, terrorists, powerful people and Maoists scattered across the country, which have never failed to express its astute intolerance to their efforts in exposing the corrupt and the obsolete practices in the country. As per the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), India was recorded as one of the deadliest countries for journalists in 2018 and the trend invariably continues to exist till date as we take a look at the six journalists who were killed while in the line of duty last year — Achyutananda Sahu , Chandan Tiwary, Sandeep Sharma, Navin Nischal, Vijay Singh and Shujaat Bukhari. Most of them, even while being apprehensive of the attacks, were willing to work without forfeiting their mission till the moment they were killed. Besides the killings, there have also been cases of imprisonment, defamation and violence triggered by the repressive voices against them, some even initiated by the governing bodies themselves.
Pakistan
In a country which reeks of terrorist activities, the survival of journalism and media is a herculean task. And yet, this year, journalist Cyril Almeida, the Assistant Editor of the daily Dawn of Pakistan, has been awarded World Press Freedom Hero award by the International Press Institute for his 'critical' and 'tenacious coverage' of the Pakistani military-security complex. In the past, he has been charged of treason for indirectly suggesting the government’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 while interviewing the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. One of the greatest threats faced by the media and journalists in the country is the government’s censorship on media. Last year, the Karachi Press Club and Bajaur Press Club was attacked by law enforcers as a pressure tactic on the journalists. Ambushing the houses of the journalists is also a common sight in the country.
Myanmar
The two Reuters reporters, journalist Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who have been imprisoned for 7 years and detained from their profession for investigating a case of a mass killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim boys and men of a village in the state of Rakhine, are examples of journalists who have been deprived of their deserving freedom. This remains one of the greatest examples to show how the government in Myanmar uses specious laws against media and journalism which limits their professional reach.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has been relentlessly on guard since the Easter terror attacks and on this occasion of a state of emergency in the country, there is a heavy censorship declared on the social media. But since this is not the first time the ban on social media has been practised by the government, there is an outcry against how the Freedom of speech and expression is impeached by law. Although there have been no reported killing, arrests or violence against journalists in the country in the previous year, there is still an immediate need to check the government’s media policy. Secondly, the allegations on the government authorities in the involvement of the murder of the Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga in 2009 being still investigated implies a country which could indeed be hateful towards journalism. Rashmi Mohamed, P.Devakumaran, Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy are only few among the many Srilankan journalists who were murdered while on duty.
Afghanistan
2018 saw a total of 15 journalists killed, in a serial bombing episode which happened early in the year. Another death of a journalist named Javid Noori, who was also a government employee, took place this year on January 9. He was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by the Taliban militants for his work favouring the US-backed government in Kabul. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) thus for that matter could not have gone wrong in calling Afghanistan 'the deadliest' country for journalists. The greatest threats for press freedom, journalism and media include the constant wars declared in the state by the Taliban and Islamic State and also a host of corrupt politicians and warlords. There have also been cases of foreign hostages and killings in the country. Anja Niedringhaus from Germany, Nils Horner from Sweden and Farhad Taqaddosi from Iran are some of the foreign journalists who died in Afghanistan.
Bangladesh
Press freedom in Bangladesh comes under significant threat compared to its neighbouring countries, due in large part to censorship imposed by the ruling Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Arbitrary arrests of journalists and blocking news websites on spurious grounds happen quite often and lead to a heightened pressure on press freedom. Shahidul Alam, an internationally acclaimed photojournalist was imprisoned for 107 days for supporting an anti-government student protest and also for acknowledging the repressive digital security laws in the country. The journalists and a great number of youngsters in the dysfunctional democracy of the country are currently fighting the autocracy for equal rights to freedom of speech and expression.
Announcing the theme for this year, Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General, called teh free press “essential for peace, justice, sustainable development and human rights.” He added, “No democracy is complete without access to transparent and reliable information. It is the cornerstone for building fair and impartial institutions, holding leaders accountable and speaking truth to power.”
By far, these countries have been struggling with their press freedom and the statistics are explanatory of the dark and regressive situations. However, it is clear to that the world has to put in a stronger collective effort to bring down the number of conflict zones in the world and undertake missions to end the global injustice and intolerance shown towards journalists.
