Indian journalist Rana Ayyub speaking during the launch of her self-published book ‘Gujarat Profile’ in New Delhi in May 2016. On March 29, 2022, Ayyub was prevented from flying. Europe to talk about online violence against female journalists.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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Indian journalist Rana Ayyub speaking during the launch of her self-published book ‘Gujarat Profile’ in New Delhi in May 2016. On March 29, 2022, Ayyub was prevented from flying. Europe to talk about online violence against female journalists.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
The Indian government is increasing its crackdown on journalists who criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The country, which once boasted a media landscape that is intrinsically diverse, has gone in the opposite direction in recent years.
Rana Ayyub, a prominent investigative reporter, columnist for the Washington Post and frequent critic of Mr. Modi’s government, often angers Hindu right-wing politicians. She has faced online harassment, death threats and India’s justice system because of her work as a journalist.
“There’s nothing like freedom of the press in the world’s largest democracy of 1.3 billion people,” she told Morning Edition host A Martinez. “Most of the mainstream media is literally repeating the government’s lies and the independents, the critics, are paying the price.”
India’s ranking on the World Press Index has dropped to 150 out of 180 countries, according to Reporters Without Borders.
In March 2022, Ayyub was stopped at Mumbai airport while boarding a flight to London to speak out about online violence against female journalists by the organization. Center for International Journalists. Indian authorities banned her from leaving the country because of an ongoing investigation into financial crime allegations.
India’s Directorate General of Enforcement, tasked with enforcing the country’s economic law, filed a complaint against Ayyub under anti-money laundering laws in October. The agency alleges that Ayyub used more than $324,000 ( Rs 2.69 crore) public fundraiser for myself. Ayyub has publicly denied any wrongdoing.
Ayyub became famous thanks to her investigative report on the Gujarat community riots of 2002. She shows that the state government’s lack of response has resulted in more than 1,000 deaths, most of them Muslims.
She continues to speak out and speak out against the government’s tactics, even though she knows she could be persecuted for it. In a conversation with Morning Edition’s A Martinez, Ayyub talked about what it’s like to be the recipient of digital threats, India’s mainstream media, and how journalists can fight back. pay.
HIGHLIGHTS INTERVIEW
In the face of death threats, online harassment, and legal challenges
In 2018, a fake pornographic video featuring Ayyub’s face was circulated on WhatsApp. The video caused a public outcry. Last January, Ayyub received more than 26,000 responses to a tweets criticizing Saudi Arabia’s role in the war in Yemenmany of them contains death and rape threats.
“Harassment has spanned over a decade, from having my pictures turned into pornographic videos and spread across the country to being charged with a money-laundering case, which I will face shortly. now coming to India..I got the court summons a month ago […] for an article I wrote in 2009, and I have to show up on January 28, […] and the allegation against me that I am a practicing Muslim and therefore biased in my reporting. There are many cases against me because of my tweets, because of my appearances on news channels. Everything that I say is sometimes converted to a case, so […] I look to an uncertain future.”
“At this moment, I worry for each and every one, especially the independent journalists in India, who are risking everything to fight that battle. Journalists should only worry about getting the word out. believed rather than becoming the story itself. We became the stories in the new India in which we live.”
About Modi’s refusal to answer journalists’ questions
“Mr. Modi has been in power since 2014 when he assumed the role of prime minister of India. Until today, […] he didn’t have a press conference. When he travels to a country, he does not meet with the general press. He doesn’t take questions from the international media, because he knows that a lot of questions will be important, especially about the attack on minorities, to 220 million minorities. Islam in India. He didn’t take any questions, except for interviews where he was conducted by a certain Bollywood superstar who would ask him questions like: “How do you like to eat mangoes? Do you prefer peeling or slicing?”
“There is nothing like freedom of the press in the world’s largest democracy with 1.3 billion people. Most of the mainstream media are literally repeating the lies of the government and its people. Independents, critics, are paying the price. There are so many journalists being arrested, gagged. They can’t tell their stories. They are being murdered. Kashmiri journalists are being arrested. Public Safety Act.”
Local media reported that dozens of journalists marched in protest after authorities banned at least half a dozen journalists from entering the venue of India’s Republic Day parade in Srinagar.
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Local media reported that dozens of journalists marched in protest after authorities banned at least half a dozen journalists from entering the venue of India’s Republic Day parade in Srinagar.
AFP via Getty Images
On the impact of online misinformation
“We have news presenters reading government leaflets and vilifying journalists and critics every day. Indians are raving about it, but very few of them complain. because there’s a culture of misinformation. We have Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram where fake news has become the norm, and some of us are being demonized.”
“Indian news channels are becoming platforms for haters. These channels have become platforms of other views as hate is spreading across India. Yesterday, one of the journalists Legislators of the ruling party of India have asked Indians to keep firearms in their homes to silence minorities. Indians most of the population are consuming something extremely toxic.”
About alternatives to mainstream media
“News channels are owned by big business corporations who are bending over to conform to government views. So to protect their own interests and their platforms, platforms the press platform eventually becomes the mouthpiece of the government. Most newspapers in India depend on revenue and advertising from the government.”
“Some of the biggest stories in India come from people who are not supported by a news organization, but by independent press. True stories come from international press and independent media. in India. […] In the absence of gatekeepers, social media has allowed citizen journalists to report stories of community violence and calls for genocide.”
“So now with the censorship of Elon Musk and Twitter, Indian journalists find themselves in a position where, on the one hand, we have media moguls who own these publications, who own these houses and is censoring them, and the gatekeepers are censoring them to protect them. government. And on the other hand, the pre-existing platforms they have are taking away from them.”
Olivia Hampton and Nina Kravinsky recorded this interview.
