Outlook India: New Delhi: Thursday, September
06, 2018.
A year after Gauri Lankesh was shot dead
outside her home in Bengaluru, many other journalists continue to face death
threats, attacks and false charges, Amnesty International India said Wednesday,
asserting it is a "dangerous" time to speak truth to authorities in
India.
The rights body said attacks on
journalism not only stifle the constitutional right to freedom of speech and
expression but also have a "profound silencing effect".
It cited the house arrest of civil
liberties activist Gautam Navlakha and Left-leaning poet Varavara Rao on
charges of having ties with Maoists as examples of crackdown on free speech.
Lankesh, known for her strong
anti-Hindutva views, was gunned down on September 5 last year outside her
Rajarajeshwari Nagar residence. Some of the people arrested in the case are
allegedly linked to Hindu rightwing groups.
A year after the killing, the SIT
investigating the case said the probe is in the final stage and a chargesheet
will be filed in two months.
"Gauri Lankesh's death anniversary
is an occasion for us to introspect on how people who expose the truth,
including journalists and whistle-blowers, are increasingly under attack in
India.
"While it is heartening that the
investigation into Gauri Lankesh's murder seems to be progressing,
investigations into several other attacks on journalists and whistle-blowers
have yielded precious little. It is a dangerous time for anyone who speaks
truth to power in India," said Aakar Patel of Amnesty India.
According to Reporters Without Borders,
in the first six months of 2018, at least four journalists have been killed in
India and at least three more have been physically attacked.
Several other journalists have received
threats for journalism that is critical of the State. In August, two
journalists were arrested in a nationwide crackdown on human rights defenders,
Amnesty India said in a statement.
"Journalism cannot be suppressed by
those refusing to acknowledge the truth," Patel said, adding, "This
occasion is also a good time to call for investigations into all attacks on
journalists."
Amnesty India said Lankesh's killing is
part of a growing pattern of attacks on journalists in the country.
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
ranked India 12th in its 2017 Global Impunity Index, which ranks countries
where the murder of journalists are least likely to be prosecuted.
According to data available with the
National Crime Records Bureau, between 2014 and 2017, as many as 204 attacks
against mediapersons have been registered in India.
India's position among 180 countries in
the World Press Freedom Index has gone from 136 in 2017 to 138 in 2018, the
body said.
It pointed out besides journalists,
others who expose corruption and rights violations like whistle-blowers and
Right to Information (RTI) activists are also being targeted.
Around 14 cases of attacks against
whistle-blowers and RTI activists were recorded in 2017 according to National
Crime Records Bureau data, it said, adding that activists say the actual number
could be much higher.
The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014
has not been operationalised and the Union government has proposed amendments
that will dilute the protection provided by the Act, and drastically increase
the risks for whistle blowers, the body added. TDS TDS ABH ABH