Here, in this letter to Tehelka (May 29), Bangalore-based Gauri Lankesh, a former editor of Lankesh Patrike, describes how the united media fought back when the Karnataka government tried to curb the press:
A UNITED MEDIA FIGHTS BACK
“In our democratic system the fourth estate will brook no interference by the Establishment." That was the stinging message sent by Prajavani, a Kannada daily, to the government of Karnataka last week.
The BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP government -- which is floundering between sexual scandals and financial scams -- had set forth to curb an independent and critical press. Last month, it had tested the waters by issuing threatening notices to two journalists of Prajavani.
In those notices the police of Shimoga district had threatened to charge reporter Rahul Belagali and Associate Editor Padmaraj Dandavati under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967, and various other Acts if they did not reveal the source of information in connection with an interview of a Naxal leader which was published sometime last year.
The notices -- instead of making the journalists meek -- made the media see red. When the Editors Guild of India rapped the knuckles of the state government saying it had no business to ask journalists for their source of information, Prajavani was emboldened. It launched a campaign against the government to protect the rights of the media.
Various groups of journalists joined the campaign and held protests across the state. Journalists of Shimoga -- Yeddyurappa’s home district -- went a step further and threatened to boycott a press conference by the chief minister unless the police withdrew the notices.
In the face of such a strong resistance by Prajavani and a united media, a shamefaced government was left with no choice but to immediately withdraw the notices.
In the State’s war against the Maoists, it was the government of Karnataka which took the first step towards gagging the media. That Prajavani and the media did not allow the government to succeed in its machinations is heartening. In doing so, they have set a commendable example to others across the country. -- Gauri Lankesh
