Media Freedom Threatened, Journos Getting Muzzled: Naresh Agrawal

In a strong rebuttal on the independence of Indian media being threatened by those in power, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agrawal on Tuesday, 2 January, asked for better protection of journalists and less government intervention in the news media’s day-to-day workings.

“All major media groups are only reporting in favour of the government these days. If a journalist tries reporting anything against the government, the ruling party puts pressure on the publication and gets him sacked,” Agrawal said in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Winter Session.

Agrawal also cited the recent killings of journalists like Gauri Lankesh, Naveen Gupta and Kamlesh Jain to highlight the threat to scribes under the current regime.

Nine journalists have been killed since the current (NDA) government came into power. Gauri Lankesh in Karnataka, Naveen Gupta in Uttar Pradesh and Kamlesh Jain in Madhya Pradesh are few of the incidences that came out.

Naresh Agrawal, SP

He further added that while the muzzling is visible in national media, the condition of journalists at the zonal level is even worse. Other than working under constant pressure from the government, the local-level journalists earn less and can barely make a living.

They walk around with their cameras and barely earn anything. A journalist told me if his story gets approved, he makes around Rs 200. Plus there is no scope of appraisal and no Provident Fund (PF) scheme for them.

Naresh Agrawal, SP

The senior SP leader also cited the example of media reporting during the violence that broke out in Haryana’s Panchkula after the conviction of self-styled godman Ram Rahim Singh.

In the violence that followed Ram Rahim’s conviction, we saw many journalists getting hurt and their vehicles being destroyed. They had to pay for their treatment by themselves there was no help provided to them.

Naresh Agrawal, SP

Agrawal asked the Upper House of the Parliament for better laws ensuring protection of journalists.