Press Freedom

The FIR against commentator Ajeet Bharti deserves scrutiny because criminal law must never become a weapon for settling political and ideological battles. Registered at Delhi’s North Avenue Police Station on August 23, the case invokes provisions of the SC/ST Act, the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita over remarks allegedly made during Bharti’s …

Continue reading "The Ajeet Bharti FIR: When Offensive Speech Becomes a Pretext for Settling Political And Ideological Scores, Damaging The Very Social Unity It Claims to Protect"

Selective Silence, Elite Caution, and the Cost of Invisibility When mobs torched the offices of media houses like Prothom Alo and The Daily Star in Dhaka, after the death of Osman Hadi, foreign embassies moved quickly. Statements were issued. Joint condemnations followed. Press freedom was invoked, rightly, as a core democratic value [1]. But when …

Continue reading "The Politics of Silence: The Lynching of Dipu Chandra Das and what Hindu Society must learn to survive"

N J Thakuria, Geneva: A record number of media persons have been killed this year across the world, observed the global safety & rights body Press Emblem Campaign. At least 165 of them lost their lives in 21 countries on the globe (till Tuesday) said the PEC. Two conflicts are responsible for two thirds of …

Continue reading "Globally a record number of journalists killed in 2024"