The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Democracy has weakened in post-Emergency era’

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Thursday, Jun 28, 2007
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‘Democracy has weakened in post-Emergency era’

Staff Reporter

Little space left for political dissent, rue activists on ‘Anti-Emergency Day’

NEW DELHI: At a meeting organised by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Janhastakshep to observe Anti-Emergency Day here on Tuesday, human rights activists, academicians, journalists and political leaders said the democratic institution in the country had weakened in the post-Emergency era, leaving little space for political dissent.

The participants were of the view that monopoly capitalism, feudalistic polity, subservient bureaucracy and brutal security forces had propped up a ruling clique of political parties that invariably sanctioned suppression of dissidence, dubbing it as separatist and enemy of “development”.

Recalling the imposition of the Emergency in 1975, eminent journalist Kuldip Nayar said the media at that time had failed to stand up and as many as 103 senior journalists and editors had signed a document favouring official censorship of day-to-day news coverage.

Submissive attitude

He said the submissive attitude of the media, including television channels, had become more pronounced now. None of the mainstream newspapers had carried any critical write-up on the eve of the 1975 Emergency that had sniffed away the freedom of the Press.

Janhastakshep convener Anoop Saraya said: “Draconian laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, the National Security Act and the Disturbed Areas Act are being promulgated in the name of protecting democracy, but they are actually being used to crush political dissent. The new economic policies, dictates of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are being followed by successive governments which have led to widespread unrest and displacement of tribals. The archival Land Acquisition Act is being used to forcibly acquire farmers’ land for Special Economic Zones.”

Another senior media person said the media establishments were being run on the pattern of an industry, reducing journalists to mere wage workers. They were given marching order whenever their reporting did not subscribe to the proprietors’ views. Eminent educationist Amrik Singh said the media had become more conformist and commercial and, as in the Emergency period, the police were enjoying enormous powers to harass innocent people.

Justice Rajinder Sachar said the judiciary, which did not stand up against the Emergency regime, had now developed a tendency of denying or delaying justice to the poor and the underprivileged. He said the judiciary had donned a “political mantle” by taking up “activism” in areas meant for government action.

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