There was a gloom of silence in the state after its Chief Minister, Dorjee Khandu died in a plane crash. The state was in shock and grief after the news of the Chief Minister started pouring in. Dorjee Khandu was much loved by the public and that was the reason why the whole state came out in numbers to hold prayers for his safe return. But after the news of the air crash was confirmed the state came to a standstill. Media reported, experts questioned, people gathered but none anticipated any kind of violence and disturbances.
Much before the body of Dorjee Khandu was laid to rest another tragic event struck the capital and this time it was an attack on the press fraternity. On 8th May the press office of Press Trust India (PTI) in Itanagar and Arunachal Front in Naharlagun were vandalized by a group of youth who were apparently unhappy with the media house for not publishing a certain news item in their newspaper.
And interestingly there was another incident where Pradeep Thakur, a reporter from TOI was found to be writing on the political development in Arunachal Pradesh. He wrote a report which was published in the TOI website on 4th May, where he talked about the “race to the chief minister’s post after the death of Dorjee Khandu. In his analysis of the situation he was talking about some of the leaders who were the frontrunners to the post of CM and while mentioning Nabam Tuki (PWD Minister) as one of the contender to the post, Thakur wrote that ‘he (Tuki) belongs to Nyishi tribe which does not enjoy good rapport amongst other tribes”.
This particular statement created furor amongst the member of the tribe mentioned. The Nyishi community found it derogatory and insulting. The All Nyishi Students Union (ANSU) was the ons who objected to the above statements. They condemned Thakur’s report as they felt it showed the community in a poor light. Talking to media persons the president of ANSU said that such news report based on hearsay and mere speculation of the writer is against the ethics of journalism and fair reporting. They even went to declare three black day to protest against the writer and the report. They also demanded a clarification along with an unconditional apology from TOI. They further asked the state government to clarify its stand on this issue within 7 days or else it would presume the govt to be anti-Nyishi.
All this was just the beginning to a conflict. A conflict between the students union and the media. In fact this crisis has gone deeper and the tension between the media and the student union continues for a straight 17 days.
Even after the publication of a public apology by the TOI in its national daily, the ANSU is not at peace. It still grumbles and mumbles. If a mainstream media was to cover this event then they would have called this a publicity stunt which we get to see in Mumbai in the form of Shiv Sena but because the Arunachal media is not so strong to voice out such opinion they have remained silent. In fact they had decided not to publish newspapers for the time being.
This silence by the Arunachal media is not an act of coward but an act of perseverance which the student union should have gracefully shown. But students being students will have to learn manners and discipline even in public life. These students union are supposed to be an example of leadership. But what will happen when they lead such protests which is politically motivated. Students for sure can play more politics than the older counterpart-politicians.
If you think students union are not political then listen to the demands made by the ANSU recently. They have demanded the following:
1) Arrest of Pradeep Thakur, TOI reporter, who’s writing sparked off the present crisis. An FIR has already been lodged with the state DIGP by the ANSU.
2) Revelation of the source of the report which involved those derogatory remarks on the Nyishi community. ANSU believes that someone from the state itself has provided Thakur with those kind of informations.
3) An unconditional apology from Pradeep Thakur to the Nyishi community in all the leading national dailies.
4) Resignation of Jarpum Gamlin, president of Arunachal Press Club for non-publication of reports on ANSU’s press conference held on 7th May and the peaceful protest rally carried out on 13th May. Interestingly Jarpum is the younger brother of the present CM Jarbom Gamlin and finally
5) Shifting of the office of ‘The Sentinel Arunachal’ from the capital region. The Sentinel Arunachal is owned and managed by Jarpum Gamlin.
If you have noticed it clearly, Jarpum Gamlin is the man in target. He is the younger brother of the present CM Jarbom Gamlin. Jarbom Gamlin was elected as the CM after all the 41 state legislators were interviewed individually by Union ministers BK Handique, Salman Khursheed, Mukul Wasnik and V Narayanswamy. Sources say out of the 41 Cong MLA, 29 said yes to Gamlin, thereby hinting at a somewhat close competition from contenders like Tuki.
This was a whole political issue. Tuki was definitely not at all happy with the happenings. Considering the fact that Tuki had been serving the state as a minister for a very long time. His reactions caught in cameras can speak a lot. Even while making statements in news channels one could clearly see the frustration and the irritation that the leader had it inside him. When asked about the newly elected CM, he replied very awkwardly and said I don’t know anything, they didn’t ask me anything.
Nevertheless some of his followers must have reflected that very frustration at the media in the form of vandalizing the media offices which coincided with the Pradeep Thakur report as well. Politics is inevitable. Hope everyone understands this with a common intellectual mind and this include the students union too.
However the Arunachal media agrees that yes there has been an error in the reporting and that Pradeep Thakur needs to make an apology to the community. But the media should not allow these students union to dictate terms. TOI has already made public apology to the community yet the students union is not satisfied and they seem to be making irrelevant demands which characterizes a political motive. The target on Jarpum Gamlin is more of a political one. Media however cannot highlight or even make such assessment because journalism here in the state means ‘write for them’ instead of ‘write about them’
Media here in Arunachal Pradesh functions in accordance to the security threats and fear. A media house is attacked if they write a “report of the government”. That is the reason why most of the time we see the Arunachal media “writing for the government”. But this does not mean that the state government dictates the terms of media. This means there is no freedom of expression in the hands of the fourth pillar of democracy. This fourth pillar just stands tall; it cannot flex its arms and report critically like the mainstream media and this is one of the major setback for the growth of media in Arunachal Pradesh. The politics of goons affects and acts as the biggest hindrance for transparent governance.
Following are some of the incidents of Assault on the Arunachal Press fraternity
-- Attempt on the life of V.Ravindran, then Chief Sub Editor, Echo of Arunachal on Dec 17, 1995.
-- Attack on Pradeep Kr. Behera, then Editor of The Arunachal Times in 1996.
-- Attack on the Editor, The Dawnlit Post, Gabriel Denwang Wangsu, on 15th November 2000
-- Attack on Tongam Rina and Pina Kitnal Muklom of Arunachal Times in 2007.
-- Attack on Associate Editor, The Dawnlit Post, V. Ravindran on July 23, 2009
-- Molestation of a family member of a working journalist.
--Threat to Tongam Rina, Associate Editor of The Arunachal Times in October, 2010.
-- Attack on reporters of The Sentinel Arunachal.
