Press freedom: India falls to 138 in RSF rankings
New Delhi, April 25: With increasing “physical violence” against journalists reported in India, the country’s ranking in the Press Freedom Index has fallen two places to 138, said a statement from the annual report of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The killing of Gauri Lankesh has been seen as the key reason behind the fall. The report warned that hate crime is another issue plaguing India.
“Hate speech is also an issue in the continent’s other giant, India, which has fallen another two places to 138th. Ever since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, Hindu fundamentalists have been referring to journalists in extremely violent terms,” the report said.
The report also mentioned that, “Any investigative reporting that annoys the ruling party or any criticism of Hindutva, elicits a torrent of online insults and calls for the death of the reporter or writer responsible, most of it coming from the prime minister’s troll army.”
Citing the case of Gauri Lankesh, the Reporters Without Borders(RSF) report said, “The newspaper editor Gauri Lankesh was gunned down outside her home in September after being the target of hate speech and death threats for criticising Hindu supremacy, the caste system and discrimination against women.”
“The physical violence against journalists is largely responsible for India’s low ranking. At least three journalists were murdered in connection with their work. More were killed in circumstances that were unclear, as is often the case in rural areas, where reporters are poorly paid,” according to the RSF ranking.
While India dropped two points, Norway continues to top the list of having the world’s freest press for two consecutive years, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. The lowest ranking in the list was North Korea followed by Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Syria and then China.
China’s ranking remained unchanged at 175th position for the second year. Underlining that China’s censorship and surveillance has reached unprecedented levels due to the massive use of new technology, the RSF said foreign reporters are finding it harder to work and ordinary citizens can now be jailed just for sharing content on a social network or during a private chat on a messaging service.
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Congress misleading public on National Herald case, matter still in court: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of running misleading propaganda over the trial court's decision in the National Herald case and said the court refused to take cognisance of the complaint but did not set aside the case.
The case is still pending trial in the Delhi High Court, and the trial court in its order on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can continue its investigation, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asserted.
"The court yesterday (Tuesday) said that since it is a private complaint and no FIR has been lodged, it will not take cognizance of it. It's a technical matter. The court also said that ED can continue its investigation further. The court did not set it aside," Bhatia told a press conference at the BJP headquarters here
"Its trial is still going on. Sonia Gandhi is still Accused Number-1 and Rahul Gandhi Accused Number-2," the BJP spokesperson said, alleging, "The Gandhi family thrives on deceit, deception, and propaganda."
