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Jornalisttic fraternity stabbed each other in the back too! (GT)
By Nisser Dias 7th Jan 2010
South Goa administration gagging the media to prevent the truth.
South Goa additional district magistrate’s (ADM) order prohibiting television
coverage of riots and arson at Colva following the release of an audio CD,
‘Dogui Bodmas’ seems to be influenced by a politician in the coalition
government led by Digambar Kamat.
Firstly the very premise on which the ban has been imposed is downright flimsy.
Just because a local news channel stated that the people involved in causing
confusion and chaos at Colva had gathered in support or were supporters of the
parish priest, is no ground at all for imposing a ban.
The contention of the ADM is that, it should have been parishioners instead of
supporters, the question here is, on the day of the incident, was it only the
parishioners of Colva or were there others from other villages and
constituencies to commit the act of rioting and arson.
Keeping aside the legal and constitutional validity of the ban, as so much has
already been said and written condemning it, what purpose does it serve.. Since
the inception of electronic media in Goa, coverage of incidents like Curchorem
communal riots, murder of a priest in Maina-Curtorim, frequent communal tension
in Margao and surrounding areas, Saleli flare-up due to which a landlord was
killed and hundreds of villagers were arrested and many more incidents have
been telecast by the local media, but none of these coverages in the past has
incited people to take law into their hands.
But now, how come the south Goa administration feels that riots and arson in
Colva to violently protest the release of the controversial CD will hurt the
sentiments of the people of Colva is a question mark, which only the south Goa
district administration can answer. In my opinion, this is just a hogwash. The
reality is that the police do not want to go after and arrest miscreants
involved in rioting, arson and blocking the roads for two days, because of
pressure from the local MLA and minister.
From the time of culmination of the mob members at the police station till the
time of stoning the house of the producer, journalists were threatened from
clicking pictures or capturing it on video. The reason being simple, the
arsonists did not want to be identified or caught on camera. So also, because
the leaders of the mob are allegedly known to be close associates of the local
minister.
A criminal case stands registered against unknown persons for stoning the house
of the producer Calvert Gonsalves. But till such time no person is identified
or caught in the act, it makes the work of the police a little difficult.
Not that the police do not know who the accused are, they are very much aware
as the police themselves were recording the incident on camera. But it is a
foregone conclusion that the police will not make the video recording public or
use it for their investigation.
But there is yet another recording of the incident and stoning of the house of
the producer, wherein all the front-men of the politician and the priest who
cast the first stone on the house are clearly seen and this is in possession of
the producer himself.
The fear of the politician is that this particular recording might end up in
the hands of the news channels in Goa and will be aired and thus force the
police to initiate criminal proceedings against those seen in the video.
It is well known that the politician in question is making his base in Nuvem to
contest the next elections from there. If at this juncture criminal cases are
filed against the miscreants hailing from Nuvem, the popularity of the
politician will erode and definitely loose credibility for not being able to
save them and thus the ban.
If this is not the reason for the ban, then why does the top brass of the south
Goa police and the south Goa administration office keep playing the blame game.
One might also ask, if the producer is in possession of this tape, why not hand
it over to the police, the answer to this is simple. Firstly can he still trust
the police and the south Goa administration, when the police knowing that his
house would be stoned acted as mute spectators and when the collector has gone
on record to promise the mob that Culvert would somehow be thrown behind bars
even if he applies for anticipatory bail. Secondly there are ample numbers of
cases of missing files in government departments, what guarantee can one have
that this particular recording will also not disappear. But if it is handed
over the news channels they will not only air it and show it to the people of
Goa the levels people stoop to, with the backing of politicians and priest, but
can also archive it,
making it difficult for the police to do the disappearing act.
Be that as it may, the reaction of the press body to the ADM’s order imposing
the ban was pathetic, instead of denouncing it, it’s silence over the issue was
deafening. With the exception of publishing the contents of the ADM’s order in
the dailies, Goa Journalist’s Association did not issue any statement, south
Goa journalist association woke up days later to condemn the assault on a
colleague and as a part of the drill also decided to approach the collector to
discuss the ban.
No real effort has been made to challenge or protest the decision of the ADM,
infact some journalists exposed their pettiness by trying to score brownie
points against each other. When the need of the hour was to unite together as
the fourth pillar of democracy keeping rivalry aside, one press reporter while
filing his report resorted to gimmicks like inserting in brackets that it was
the news channel attached to their English new daily. This indicated the
hollowness of this mind, when it should have been other way round and press as
a body should have taken on the might of the administration, ironically this
incident showed how divided the fraternity is and even in times of crisis do
not think while stabbing each other in the back.
Send your comments/reactions to [email protected] or SMS 9422437029)
Appeared in GT dtd 7/1/2010
[email protected]
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