The BJP government in the state is a child of the Sangh Parivar which had suffered much during the infamous emergency when media censorship was in vogue. But now the very same BJP government has declared emergency as far as media is concerned and has created a nightmarish situation for the media men. VS Acharya, who was behind bars for eleven months during emergency and is now the Home Minister, has today given rise to a situation where it is imperative for the media in the state, to seek clearance from the police department before publishing write-ups criticizing the government.
The first thing which fascist forces do soon after gaining power is to make their path clear by suppressing their opponents or critics. Acharya, ever since he became the home minister, heralded the practice of being intolerant towards that section of the media which published criticisms against the government, and has now pursued this practice as a ‘culture.’
Acharya who had filed as many as 18 cases against the TV 9 for its minute to minute coverage of the Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat’s wife’s case , later withdrew all the cases at the same speed following an assurance of ‘Good behavior’ by the channel.
He who nurtured vengeance against Karavali Ale since long, even pushed the Karavali Ale chief BV See behind bars by fixing him in a false case, only to be censured by the court. But he has not withdrawn the over a dozen false cases filed against the newspaper.
Even the cops, under the impression that they were meant to protect the interests of the BP and its RSS cadres, came forward to arrest an Udaya TV reporter for the sole reason that he had aired a few footages of the interrogation of Nityananda. Meanwhile, a report on Naxal activities that appeared in Prajavani too was projected as an act of treachery. Presently, the government is up in arms against Vijaya Karnataka.
Public feedback provided by the media has its own importance in a democratic set up. Alongside with it, it is also the duty of the media to expose the follies of the government and warn it. But the BJP government does not like all this. The government it seems is under the impression that its detractors including scribes could be kept under control by curtailing their rights and by threatening them.
But let it not forget one fact, that even the powerful Indira Gandhi couldn’t do much in front of a united media. The same was the story of Tamil Nadu’s Jayalalitha. Then what can be said of Acharya and Yeddyurappa ? Will they learn from their mistakes ? There can be no such hope.
May be they may learn something only when they lose power after being rejected by the people. On the other hand, people who had high expectations from the BJP are certainly disillusioned.
But Acharya and Yeddyurappa seem to be under the impression that they would be in power for a life time!
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