Some are saying these are professional hazards. I wonder if getting assaulted, beaten up and sitting with broken cameras every other day should be termed and forgotten as ‘professional hazard’. Let us now face the fact that the media persons have turned out to be a ‘soft target’ for all across and beyond the political lineage in and around Kolkata. Take for instance three incidents in last one week.
In the first instance, let us recollect the incident in front of former chief minister Jyoti Basu’s residence, Indira Bhawan. On December 6, the journalists who gathered in front of Basu’s residence to cover football legend Maradona’s visit to him got surprised to know the organizers issued a special invitation card for the press which most of the media houses didn’t receive. Now after an altercation someone from the dais announced that the journalists carrying house press card may enter the function arena. But suddenly the self styled security volunteers, mostly the private security guards clad in commando attire and the CPIM cadres, decided otherwise and started beating up journalists. Interestingly the incident was preceded by the sports minister’s threat to the journalists when asked about the mismanagement in the Maradona’s felicitation programme in Saltlake Stadium, in his own ishtyle English, “I will be compelled to raise my hand.” And Subhas was the main organizer of Maradona’s felicitation function in front of Jyoti Basu’s residence.
In the other incident a group of night shift reporters who went to cover a street accident in Behala, got brutally hit by a group of ‘hooligans’ including a suspended sub-inspector of Kolkata Police. The reason for their anger was not known. But the three police constables who were present there to take the dead body to the morgue, were seen as mute spectators.
And the latest addition to this outrage against the journo was the exhibition of muscle power by Ashok Todi’s musclemen in the city court at the time of Todis’ appearance in court on Friday. The target was the journalists who got assaulted by those private security men in the presence of the policemen!
Fortunately these three incidents were recorded in video camera. But police is yet to take any action.
Now these are a few instances of the many such incidents which get reported or unreported. Some may be annoyed with the media activism or not like the way the media go overboard in covering some issues which don’t go in their favour. But this is not what a professional journalist would expect to happen to him or her every other day. This is no war field. The most dangerous trend is that these culprits go scot free. None takes any action against these hooligans. This sends a wrong signal. People take it for granted that nothing would happen to him if he beats up a media person, even when that is captured on camera. This has started with the emergence of audio visual media in the Kolkata in late nineties. Now it has been happening for last three years consistently. It has happened in Singur. It has happened in Nandigram and it has been happening in every nook and corner of the state.
In the first instance, let us recollect the incident in front of former chief minister Jyoti Basu’s residence, Indira Bhawan. On December 6, the journalists who gathered in front of Basu’s residence to cover football legend Maradona’s visit to him got surprised to know the organizers issued a special invitation card for the press which most of the media houses didn’t receive. Now after an altercation someone from the dais announced that the journalists carrying house press card may enter the function arena. But suddenly the self styled security volunteers, mostly the private security guards clad in commando attire and the CPIM cadres, decided otherwise and started beating up journalists. Interestingly the incident was preceded by the sports minister’s threat to the journalists when asked about the mismanagement in the Maradona’s felicitation programme in Saltlake Stadium, in his own ishtyle English, “I will be compelled to raise my hand.” And Subhas was the main organizer of Maradona’s felicitation function in front of Jyoti Basu’s residence.
In the other incident a group of night shift reporters who went to cover a street accident in Behala, got brutally hit by a group of ‘hooligans’ including a suspended sub-inspector of Kolkata Police. The reason for their anger was not known. But the three police constables who were present there to take the dead body to the morgue, were seen as mute spectators.
And the latest addition to this outrage against the journo was the exhibition of muscle power by Ashok Todi’s musclemen in the city court at the time of Todis’ appearance in court on Friday. The target was the journalists who got assaulted by those private security men in the presence of the policemen!
Fortunately these three incidents were recorded in video camera. But police is yet to take any action.
Now these are a few instances of the many such incidents which get reported or unreported. Some may be annoyed with the media activism or not like the way the media go overboard in covering some issues which don’t go in their favour. But this is not what a professional journalist would expect to happen to him or her every other day. This is no war field. The most dangerous trend is that these culprits go scot free. None takes any action against these hooligans. This sends a wrong signal. People take it for granted that nothing would happen to him if he beats up a media person, even when that is captured on camera. This has started with the emergence of audio visual media in the Kolkata in late nineties. Now it has been happening for last three years consistently. It has happened in Singur. It has happened in Nandigram and it has been happening in every nook and corner of the state.
I don’t think that the situation is this bad for the working journalists in any other state of the country. Nowhere the journalists are put in the receiving end like this. Here in West Bengal the journalists fraternity, no doubt, has been divided over political line due to the policies of the media houses. But this should not stop the professional organizations like Kolkata Press Club in talking tough and take the issue to the higher authorities for the protection of not only the journalists but the journalism as a profession.
