Journalists face violent threats for questioning government policy or the wisdom of PM

by confuzzled dude Wed Mar 16, 2016 9:59 pm

NEW DELHI — A newscast on whether India had become intolerant of dissent quickly spiraled into something darker after a guest on the program referred to a pamphlet that called the Hindu goddess Durga a sex worker. Though the host did not make the remarks, she was accused of disparaging the deity and was bombarded with more than 2,500 threatening calls.

“Some called and said they would douse me with acid,” Kerala journalist Sindhu Sooryakumar said. Six members of a militant group linked with India’s Hindu nationalist ruling party have been arrested.

Sooryakumar is one of a growing number of Indian journalists who say they are increasingly facing a backlash for producing work that raises questions or criticisms of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government or his Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. The crackdowns are happening as journalists try to cover a nationwide debate on how Indian patriotism should be defined — as Hindu or multicultural, devout or secular — and whether dissent should be tolerated.

Members of Modi’s government have offered hard-line views on the issue, equating criticism of the government with criticism of the country. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said last month that “the nation can never tolerate an insult to Mother India,” while Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that anyone shouting anti-India slogans “will not be tolerated or spared.”

Last week, one of India’s best-recognized TV anchors, Barkha Dutt, filed a police report after allegedly receiving “anonymous abusive death threats.” She had been reporting along with the rest of the capital’s media on a university student’s arrest for allegedly making anti-India statements. The student criticized the 2013 secret hanging — under a previous government — of a Kashmiri separatist convicted of an attack on Parliament.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indian-journalists-see-more-threats-attacks-with-modi-as-pm/2016/03/16/7140f816-eb53-11e5-a9ce-681055c7a05f_story.html

by smArtha Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:13 am

According to Barkha - shouting anti-India slogans and saying we'll wage war against India till its decimation are not supposed to be considered violent or seditious as they haven't yet provoked violence.

By her own argument someone threatening to kill her or douse acid is still words and not action is involved. So no need for any authorities to be concerned or take any action yet.

Journalists face violent threats for questioning government policy or the wisdom of PM

Journalists face violent threats for questioning government policy or the wisdom of PM

Re: Journalists face violent threats for questioning government policy or the wisdom of PM