I have in the past written on this topic. India claims to be a democracy
and for a democracy to function, a free and independent press is a
prerequisite. The strength of Western democracies rests on the pillars, one of them
being
a free press.
I had recently listened to an Australian Broadcasting broadcast on the
gagging of the Press in India. I had sent the article to Fred and Joel to
assist them in knowing the fact. India uses incentives to stifle journalists and
today Bush in the US uses a clich� called embedded to get the press to do his
bidding. Any failures of the War in Iraq has to be silenced. The people have
to be kept in the dark and then one goes on a spree waging an unjust war. This
is a lesson learnt by the US from the Viet Nam war. The media was the main
instrument to see the war ended in this war.
I am unaware of the Tahelka affair and have been unable to understand this
affair but I understand this was a Pandora's box opened by a journalist. The
Government of India has created journalist colonies as in Goa to grant favours to
pressmen for their co-operation in turning their heads the other way when the
government misbehaves.
Rajan Narayan is a pukka Goan in the sense that he upholds the
principles of good government. I have learnt that he is more Goan than a Goan and
espouses Goa's cause and the principles of a free press. This has meant that he
has had to criticise failures and individuals who are the cause. I understand
that when he criticised the Goons who terrorised Goa, he was badly assaulted.
A journalist whose name I cannot remember (Fernandes) who criticised Goa's
goons and the Matka scam was badly assaulted and had to leave Goa and today
lives abroad for his own safety. Goa's Chief Justice Nadkarni is ever willing to
go to bat for these Goons. One of them has a mother who is a Member of the
Legislative Assembly and she is dedicated in the freedom of her son who uses his
muscle to see his mother elected.
Rajan had withdrawn from active reporting for a while and since the
coming to power of the BJP, one of the priorities of the government has been to
stifle dissent and the media. It is good to learn that he has with his wife
decided to branch out on his own. Will this enhance his security or if it will
permit him to scrutinise the actions of the government in his new weekly, only
time itself will tell. In the meantime Goa must undergo an unpredictable
future and it's institutions specially the media will be silenced. I wish Rajan and
Tara success in their dangerous mission.
I commend Aiyres for standing up against the evils that beset Goa and
Goans.
It is a sad day for Goa and Goans of all walks of life. The government
controls the air that the media breaths.
Edgar Martins
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