WASHINGTON: India is the world’s largest democracy, yet it is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media, says a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post, published during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US capital this week.
The ad, which highlights the problems journalists in India face, was jointly sponsored by the world’s leading media and rights advocacy groups, including the National Press Club, Washington, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, International Press Institute (IPI), International Women’s Media Foundation, James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, Reporters Committee, and WAN IFRA.
It reminded the Biden administration, and the visitors from India, that “press freedom is under increasing threat” in India, “with journalists facing physical violence, harassment, bogus lawsuits, and hate campaigns on social media”.
The Post also published a news story, pointing out that the pressure built up by media and rights advocacy groups worked and Narendra Modi did something very unusual on Thursday at the White House (joint news conference) — he took questions from journalists.
concrete steps to improve the environment for press freedom in the country. “In the decade since Modi came to power, crackdowns on the media have become increasingly common,” the statement added.
Last month, IPI published an open letter to Modi, urging him to “take immediate and concrete action to protect freedom of expression and media freedom and to ensure that the Indian public can exercise their fundamental right to receive diverse, independent news and information”.
This week, IPI joined with seven other international press freedom groups as part of The Washington Post’s Press Freedom Partnership to publish the newspaper ad calling attention to the plight of six journalists currently being detained for alleged violations of Indian security laws.
In the past year alone, IPI documented over 200 press freedom threats or violations in India, which include judicial harassment, targeted online.
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