January  2003 
Year 9    No.83
Cover Story


Shades of Emergency

An ominous era is in the air when the press is free and yet in chains, locally and globally

BY SK PANDE

He who steals my purse steals trash,
But he that filches from me my good name;
Robs me of not what not enriches him
But makes me poor indeed.

William Shakespeare

CAUGHT in a rather piquant situation, on January 13, the government had to shamefacedly withdraw its case against journalist Iftekhar Gilani when it became clear that two of its ministries held different opinions, both totally contradictory. A journalist who made his living by writing is today broken, his family is in shambles as he prepares to re-enter journalism after more than seven months in jail. In some ways, too, his release was a triumph for the secular forces and journalists who stood by him in his dark days when many floundered.

The irony was that deputy prime minister LK Advani described Gilani’s release as a triumph of democracy, when it is well known that as the Union home minister he did not move a finger to put an end to this fabricated case, despite repeated requests by various journalists. On the contrary, it appears that after the Gujarat elections Advani was virtually playing the part of a three-in-one minister, i.e. home minister, defence minister and ‘deputy prime minister’ — rolled into one.

And so we have a case before us of a journalist who, after over seven long months in Delhi’s notorious Tihar jail, with no bail being granted, is finally a free man. The police have withdrawn their main cases under the Official Secrets Act, along with a case under the Obscenity Act. But what about the trauma, the suffering and the torture? Who will compensate him? This is more than just a personal matter. It will have to be addressed some day. For, there could be other Gilanis, just as there may be another Tehelka, and there may be more jingoists hunting for frame-ups "to save the nation".

Incidentally, on the same day as Gilani was released, delivering another jolt to the government, the Supreme Court granted bail to Tehelka’s Kumar Badal who was languishing in a UP jail and had faced torture too. In the backdrop is the Tehelka portal, bleeding financially, on the verge of collapse, with the government waiting to write its epitaph. However, Tehelka’s chief, Tarun Tejpal is putting up a determined fight, backed fully by the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), some editors and many journalists.

A total rot in the art of governance, a revanchist attitude towards Kashmiri Muslims and, virtually, an attempt to pick a simple professional journalist as scapegoat, to teach government drum-beater journalists a lesson — this is what lies at the core of the Gilani story. It also showcases the determination shown by a handful of journalists, helped by crusading journalists and the DUJ.

Gilani was arrested for possessing ‘official secrets’ in June 2002 and released in January 2003 as there was/is no case against him. The question being asked is: how far can the Official Secrets Act and POTA be a weapon to terrorise journalists? Who will decide what is a secret and what is not? Will the home ministry decide this? Can it overrule even the military? It is even suspected that the government had been after Gilani and therefore an aura of espionage was created, an image of a ‘cloak and dagger anti-nationalist from Kashmir’. And his crime? — He was married to the daughter of a Kashmiri leader.

The government remained unsure of Gilani’s real crime. The first military report suggested that the information with him was ‘secret.’ But the information was publicly available! The second military intelligence report blurted out the truth. There was no ‘official secret’. But the government still maintained that the information was secret.

It is another matter that the ‘secret documents’ in Gilani’s possession are available with hundreds of journalists. Even after this was made known, the government denied a second opinion from military intelligence and was on the verge of challenging it when contradictions came out in the open and were exposed in the press. For this the press and those working on the case deserve kudos.

The opinion from military intelligence showed that there had been a fabricated case of violation of the Official Secrets Act. The case was ultimately torn apart as the second opinion clearly stated, "the information contained in the document is easily available" and "the document carries no security classified information and the information seems to have been gathered from open sources."

For journalists, it is more than just another case. Ten-year old documents that are said to be confidential are available on the net and in research institutes. And many journalists could have documents that are marked confidential, if they took their fact-finding seriously. They want to know how a decade old-document could be an official secret. Or, is it that we are back to an era of official tom-tommers yes; exclusives no? Remember the dark days of the Emergency and press censorship when journalists were expected to bend and stoop and began to crawl?

Another claim of doubtful intent was made by the law ministry, which, when consulted by the home ministry, observed that since the thrust of the case was on the nature of the information under consideration, which is prejudicial to the safety and security of the country, the tenability of the second opinion of the DGMI did not appear to be relevant.

The different departments saying different things and the series of dates in court are clearly indicative of an effort to ensure that Gilani remained in jail. It is also a fact that the government deliberately delayed filing a chargesheet till September 7, the day Gilani would have received statutory bail, since the law provides that nobody can be locked up for more than 90 days without a chargesheet.

Incidentally, in reply to a complaint from the DUJ, the Press Council of India had ruled in September that the possession of any document already published and widely available on the Internet could not attract the provisions of the Official Secrets Act.

If Gilani’s arrest was meant to terrorise journalists, it has boomeranged. Apart from the DUJ, senior editors, civil liberties bodies and eminent lawyers all supported Gilani. Many see a continuum in the government selectively targeting journalists and journalists’ associations.

In fact, at a meeting called to celebrate his release, Gilani said, "If they can do it to me, they can do it to you tomorrow. My case should be a wake-up call for all journalists and concerned citizens." He said he shuddered to think of the fate of citizens and journalists living in small towns, who may be wronged by the arms of the government. "Who will speak for them?" he asked.

Some journalists, including DUJ office bearers, went to receive Gilani at Tihar Jail. In a written statement given out after his release, Gilani expressed happiness at the restoration of his honour and prestige by the withdrawal of the case against him. He felt that this was the time for all right-thinking persons, journalists and politicians to reflect on drastically amending the Official Secrets Act, a British legacy that could be misused and abused by vested elements in the government to lock up and harass honest persons.

Thanking all those who fought against the attempt to incriminate him, Gilani promised to continue his endeavour in journalism, to expose people who are destroying the system from within. 

‘Review Official Secrets Act’

A DAY before journalist Iftikhar Gilani came out of Tihar Jail, Delhi, the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) said it was in favour of a review of the Official Secrets Act (OSA). Through a statement issued by its president and the general secretary, Javed Faridi on January 13, the DUJ welcomed the decision to withdraw the case against Kashmir Times Delhi bureau chief Gilani, and the court judgement, as better late than never. But it also said that the way the case progressed was a shoddy revelation of the inhuman handling of cases by the government. It also showed a general reticence on the part of some high-ups–to delay justice and pass the buck from one ministry to another.

The organisation also welcomed the bail the Supreme Court granted to Kumar Badal of Tehelka.com and expressed grave concern at the torture inflicted on him. Regarding the Gilani case, the DUJ said it was ridiculous to ponder how those in the higher echelons could not see the spread of communication, dubbing an old document, very much in public domain, an official secret. To ensure that this does not happen again, journalists must debate the OSA in the backdrop of the Gilani case.

In fact, the DUJ stand before the Press Council stands vindicated — that what is in public domain cannot be an official secret. However, it also asked who would compensate Gilani for the trauma he underwent for more than seven months in jail and for repeated denial of bail?

Vigilance is the need of the hour, as clear patterns are visible in the attacks on the press. It is for the government to understand that gagging the media had its lessons during the era of Emergency. Wrong cases like Gilani’s could also send out wrong signals for Kashmir Valley, it added, and lauded the determination of the Gilanis in pursuing the case despite the humiliation heaped on them.

There is an increasing fear that a concerted attack is being launched, to muzzle press freedom and usher in a new era of government-sponsored journalism.

The DUJ sees shades of the Emergency in the raids on Outlook, the witch hunt against Tehelka, the Gilani case, the attacks on TV crews covering the Gujarat elections. More than 18 months after their first exposure, the news portal Tehelka is in shambles, economically crushed, the majority of its staff on the roads, paying the price for a sting operation. Individually, Gilani will take quite some time to get over the present trauma.

Some day, those in power will realise that paranoia is not perception. For those who had forgotten the days of the midnight knock and for those in the news business it is indeed a wake–up call — in an atmosphere of government cooption of the media and stick for the non-conformists. All this even as the government decides to throw open the right to information, while muzzling journalists already muzzled by contracts and by press barons. An ominous era is in the air when the press is free and yet in chains, locally and globally. 


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