One of world’s most dangerous countries for journalists: India ranks 142nd of 180 in World Press Freedom Index report
In India, Reporters Without Border’s said journalists who dare to criticise the government are branded as ‘anti-state,’ ‘anti-national’ by the supporters of BJP while IT acts have made it worse.
In the latest index of World Press Freedom Index by the international journalism not-for profit body, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) India retains 142 of 180 spot, India remains “one of the world’s most dangerous countries” for journalists.
While India has maintained its position for the second successive year, four journalists have been killed in connection with their work in 2020, making India one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists.
In the report released on Tuesday, India as “one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their job properly”. It cited police violence against journalists, “Ambushes” by political activists, and “reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt officers”.
Among India’s neighbours, Nepal is at 106, Sri Lanka at 127, and Myanmar, before the military coup, features at 140. However, Pakistan and Bangladesh secured 145 and 152 ranks on the index, respectively.
The report mentions that Ever since 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. Indians who espouse Hindutva, the ideology that gave rise to radical right-wing Hindu nationalism, are trying to purge all manifestations of “anti-national” thought from the public debate.
The report explicitly mentions that the situation is still very worrying in Kashmir, where reporters are often harassed by police and paramilitaries and must cope with utterly Orwellian content regulations, and where media outlets are liable to be closed, as was the case with the valley’s leading daily, the Kashmir Times.
While Union Minister for Information and Broadcast Prakash Javadekar responded to the report and tweeted “Media in India enjoy absolute freedom. We will expose, sooner than later, those surveys that tend to portray bad picture about ‘Freedom of Press’ in India”, the report reflects how the idea of independent and fearless journalism is losing grip in India.
