oppn parties New I&B Ministry Rules On Accreditation: Another Attempt To Muzzle The Press

News Snippets

  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
  • IPL: records tumble as SRH beat MI in a high-scoring match. SRH score 277/3 with 18 sixes and Mumbai score 246 with 20 sixes to fall short by 31 runs. Atotal of 38 sixes, highest in an IPL match were hit and both teams combined to score 523 runs, the highest aggregate in an IPL match
  • Amul will launch fresh milk in the US
  • IPL: RCB beat Punjab by 4 wickets as Kohli and Karthik shine with the bat
  • India strongly objected to German foreign office remarks over the arrest of delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, called it "biased assumptions"
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
New I&B Ministry Rules On Accreditation: Another Attempt To Muzzle The Press

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-02-09 10:09:17

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced that the accreditation of any journalist will be cancelled if he or she is found to "act in a manner which is prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement of an offence." This is not acceptable as it is against the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution in Article 19 and is a blatant attempt to muzzle the press.

The biggest worry is that all these terms are not properly defined and open to various interpretations. Since the ministry will be the sole arbiter of what constitutes an 'offence' as per the new order, it will cancel the accreditation of journalists who ask too many uncomfortable questions or pursue stories that are not to the liking of the ruling dispensation. In short, the ministry wants to grant accreditation only to those journalists who are comfortable to toe the official line and accept the official version of events.

The Ministry does not seem to learn from history. In 2018, it had tried to cancel accreditation of journalists over publication of 'fake' news but withdrew the order after protests. Then there was the infamous Defamation Bill introduced by the Rajiv Gandhi government that had tried to widen the scope of defamation and transfer the onus of proof on the accused. That was also withdrawn after huge protests.

These periodic attempts to 'bring' journalists in 'line' happen because the political class, cutting across party lines, is becoming increasingly intolerant of criticism. But the media has a job to do. Considered the fourth pillar of democracy, the media has to ask uncomfortable questions and investigate matters to get to the truth. It has to speak up for the marginalized and bring to the notice of the public if government decisions are arbitrary and violate due process. To treat journalists as anti-nationals for doing their job is wrong. Instead, the political class must learn to accept criticism.