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Media under Siege
The demand for reservations in jobs and education being made by the agitating “middle castes” overturns the logic of affi rmative action on its head. Instead of addressing historic discrimination, it is articulated as a means to “capture” public employment and education to maintain caste hierarchies. Accepting these demands, as the high courts have held, would be unconstitutional, but that will not stop governments from trying.
The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI), in its 12th national conference held in Hyderabad from 11 to 13 November, expresses its concern at the state of siege under which the media finds itself. Recent examples include those of a journalist being shot dead in Bihar, assaults by the police in Tamil Nadu, the one-day attempted ban on NDTV India, a similar ban ordered on the Assam TV channel, News Time, and the over-one-month ban on Kashmir Reader.
The NWMI finds a growing intolerance towards freedom of expression which is as much a fundamental right of the media as of citizens. Journalists while simply doing their job of reporting have been jailed or even killed.
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