Salute To Bravehearts!

It is every man’s duty to do all that lies in his power, to leave his country as good as he had found it. This famous statement makes one realise one’s duty as citizen so that one does not do and does not let others do anything that may cause a deterioration in one’s country; rather it is for one to preserve and improve upon the national quality—integrity and sovereignty. Jyotirmoy Dey, Editor, Special Investigation, Mid-Day, emulated this mantra even though by sacrificing his life. In fact, Mr Dey was one of the pillars of the investigative journalism in the country, and was an invaluable asset to the journalistic fraternity. He brought depth to investigative reporting, and he conducted his journalism with honesty and integrity. His murder is not only a loss to MiD-Day but to the media fraternity in general. He is not the first journalist to be shot dead this year in India. On January 23, 2011, Umesh Rajput, a reporter with the Hindi daily, Nai Duniya, was killed near Raipur in Chhattisgarh, and earlier on December 20, 2010, Sushil Pathak of Dainik Bhaskar was shot dead in Bilaspur while returning home after a late night shift. It is perturbing to note that in 2011 alone, 14 instances of attacks on journalists have been reported, according to a report from ‘The Free Speech Hub’ of thehoot.org. The brutal murder of senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey is yet another proof of the increasing dominance of the underworld in Mumbai. In crime reporting, the passion to get breaking news sometimes demands a very heavy price, and eminent crime reporter and investigative journalist J Dey paid the ultimate one, raising the question whether a journalist is really free to write against anti-social elements. Journalist acts as an eye to the public. They bring forward the incidents/truths happening around the world. Some journos go so deep into their work that work starts posing threat to their life. This is the irony of the situation. Instead of getting rewarded for their work, they get the penalty of doing that work. The nexus between politicians and goons is an open secret. Everyone knows this fact. Hence, the attack on mediapersons is not new to this country—particularly Mumbai. Journalists have always been targeted by the underworld, political goons and sometimes even the police.

            It is shocking to note that a journalist had been shot dead in Mumbai in broad daylight in a busy locality. It is more shocking to be reminded by the media that so far 27 journalists have been killed in the recent past and that in none of the cases the killers had been punished. This shows the level of efficacy of the governments and the police machinery. It may be adventurous and easier for the central government police at New Delhi to swoop on the sleeping satyagrahis at Ramlila Maidan and for the Prime Minister to say that it was unfortunate but inevitable. But it is quite another to manage an efficient and effective police departments. The UPA government will have to answer this latter issue to the satisfaction of the people as this issue concerns not only the state governments but the central government as well. For, with every passing year, number of journalists killed in the line of duty is on the rise in the country, and the government is silently giving into this deadly trend. Whenever there is a killing of a journalist, our parliamentarians do take time out of their busy schedules to condemn the happening, but haven’t taken any special initiatives inside or outside the Parliament for their security. During every session of the Parliament or state assemblies, one witnesses plenty of privilege motions moved by lawmakers over the breach of their so-called privileges, but rarely someone seeks a point of order to discuss the ever-worsening working conditions for journalists. Political parties too have indifferent attitude towards media. It’s very rare a political party holding some rally in favour of journalists. A journalist deserves due attention and regard. For, on one hand, society has the right to have full knowledge of events and only mass media can objectively inform the population about events that have already taken place as well as about the outlook for the future. On the other hand, any newspaper or television news company is a commercial enterprise that is organised to make profit. For a mass media outlet to make profit, journalists need to be quick in understanding and interpreting what they have seen and heard. This quickness doesn’t always facilitate objective analysis of the events. Moreover, sometimes media reports that have not been duly checked can provoke panic, which only hinders catastrophe management. Hence Chief Minister of Maharashtra Chavan has a daunting task ahead. J Dey’s brutal killing is a clear indication that the underworld is ready to bare its fangs, irrespective of Chavan’s squeaky clean image. His murder in broad daylight is not only a threat to country’s journalistic fraternity, it also shows that the underworld-politician-bureaucrat nexus is all set to undermine the very foundation of the country’s political edifice.