Elections do not make a democracy. Hitler and others who wreaked havoc in the world and committed genocide were also elected to power. There must be a rule of law. The litmus test is a free press which works as the fourth estate and speaks truth to power, said Sashi Kumar, chairman, Asian College of Journalism, who delivered the Gauri Lankesh Memorial Lecture on ‘Silenced voices: the threats to journalism in new India’, in Bengaluru on Sunday. “Without a free and independent media, democracy is a sham,” he said.
Sadly, those media houses and journalists discharging their duties earnestly are becoming targets of the mob or those who are encouraged to take the law into their own hands, he said. “We are living in lesser democracy or elected autocracy. In the World Press Freedom Ranking, we figure 150th out of 180 nations in the world. And when these reports come out, those in power dismiss them as lies. This is the crisis of our time,” he said.
He lamented the silence of sections of the mainstream media on critical aspects of governance and the social situation in the country today. Those in power whose agenda is majoritarianism have also been able to manipulate sections of mainstream media and social media, creating a sense of political flux in the country, he said.
“Journalism should be adversarial to those in power. If you only need to multiply or amplify those who are in power, then it will end up becoming the public relations department of the government. Journalism needs to be critical, to interrogate, to give credit where it is due but certainly to point out lapses, sins of omission or sins of commission of those in power,” he said, adding that the media that doesn’t invigilate the role of legislature, executive, and judiciary will not only become irrelevant but also dangerous.
Weaponising criminal justice
Social activist Teesta Setalvad, chairperson, Gauri Memorial Trust, said the state was<SU>endangering the citizenry by weaponising the criminal justice system. “The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is draconian. Citizens should ask for repealing this law. We have seen how intellectuals and activists are incarcerated and continue to suffer. Law is used to justify autocratic and extremely repressive actions of the state,” she said.
