FOcus On - International Press Institute

Act, police arrested the editor of the
news paper, K. Srinivas, and two journalists,
N. Vamsi Krishna and N. Srinivas
on 24 June. The journalists were released
on bail two days later, but in a further
development, 51 journalists were taken
into preventive detention in the town of
Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on 27 June
when they attempted to present the state
chief minister with a memorandum of
protest against the arrests.
In the neighbouring state of Karna -
taka, on 6 January, authorities arrested
B.V. Seetaram, chairman and chief editor
of Chitra Publications, on charges of
defamation. Seetaram, whose principal
pub lication is the evening newspaper
Kara vali Ale, has said political forces are
intent on causing him harm. Defamation
remains a criminal offence in India, and
carries a maximum sentence of two years.
Even in parts of the
country not directly affected
by military action or
political conflict, several
cases of media harassment
were reported
In the south Indian state of Kerala on
26 June, a team of reporters from the
daily Malayala Manorama and the Ma -
norama News Channel were attacked
during a demonstration by the Students
Federation of India (SFI), which is politically
linked to the ruling Communist
Marxist Party. Pradeep Joseph, Nishad
Kurien and Arun John, reporters with the
Malayala Manorama, were beaten and
kicked by the demonstrators.
In the western state of Maharashtra,
another critical editorial again prompted
violence. The 4 June editorial in the
Marathi daily Loksatta criticised the state
government’s decision to install a statue
of Chhatrapati Shivaji, ruler of a me di -
eval kingdom based in the Marathi cultural
region and a mythic figure in the
area, as a ploy to gain political clout. On
5 June, several activists belonging to a
political group called the Shiv Sangram
attacked the home of editor Kumar
Ketkar. Ketkar and his wife were not harmed,
but there was considerable damage
to their property.
In the state of Gujarat, a perceived
insult to religion motivated an attack on
the studios of NDTV, a national news
A journalist takes part in a sit-in protest against the killing of his colleague in Imphal.
(Reuters/Jinendra Maibam)
channel. Hindu fundamentalists attacked
the NDTV studios on 19 January, smashing
doors, windows, phones and studio
equipment. The attackers also plastered
the studios with posters accusing the staff
of being “traitors,” and injured two em -
ployees. The attack is said to have been
prompted by an opinion poll that the
channel had carried out on who should
receive India’s highest civilian award for
national service, wherein one of the proposed
candidates was the artist M.F
Hussein, who has lived in self-imposed
exile in Dubai for several years after receiving
threats from Hindu fundamentalists
for showing religious figures in what they
considered disrespectful poses.
In another incident involving religion,
Lenin Kumar Roy, author and editor of
the quarterly review Nishan, was arrested
on 8 December after he accused Hindu
extremists of waging a campaign of violence
against minorities in the Kandha -
mal district of Orissa. Kumar Roy has
been charged with violating laws punishing
“provocative literature likely to dis -
turb peace and communal harmony.“
Recommendations
An apparent lack of political will
to protect journalists needs to be
addressed, especially in areas plagued
by political conflict.
The state must commit to prosecute
those who compromise the freedom
of the media.
Enact legislation to preserve the
diversity of the media and to prevent
monopolies from developing.
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