Ordeals faced by journalists

Our press, we believe, is faced with an ironic situation. On the one hand, it enjoys unfettered, vibrant freedom. The situation improved with the 1991 restoration of democracy when the press began to expand the frontiers of exercising its freedom. Theoretically, things are very much on the right track; the ground realities, on the other hand, are often disquieting sending a negative signal across.

Journalists have been killed, maimed and intimidated by the goons unleashed by vested quarters in the southwestern zone and some other places as well. This is not to say that they are completely safe in the city. They have been subjected to police excesses as the capital city is the centre-stage of political agitation by the opposition parties. Journalists fall prey to police highhandedness and brutality while performing their duties on hartal days. Sometimes, the journalists may have been self-censored taking fright of the possible consequences of projecting the truth in an overall situation of lawlessness.

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The question is, what has the government done to protect them? Unfortunately none of the killers and attackers, barring one or two, have been arrested so far, let alone meting out punishment to the offenders. The immunity of the elements targeting journalists remains for some inexplicable reasons.

The people in government never tire of saying that the press is operating freely, but the hazards associated with the profession are overlooked. And what adds to the worries is that senior ministers are at times bitterly critical of the press. The law minister said the other day that the "freedom of press did not mean freedom to lie". Similarly, the finance minister accused the press of blighting our image abroad through publishing 'unsubstantiated' reports. This is only indicative of press freedom being interpreted from a strictly partisan point of view.

If the government high-ups lose their confidence in the independent press for no good reasons, the ultimate loser would be the government in that it would be deprived of reliable and truthful information which are regarded as the best tool for good governance.