EDITORIAL

 Defeat Assault On Freedom Of Expression

THE authoritarian intolerance of the Tamilnadu chief minister revealed its fascistic character when one publisher and five senior editorial representatives of The Hindu and Murasoli were ordered by the Tamilnadu legislative assembly speaker to be imprisoned for 15 days.  This was based on a decision of the assembly on November 7 sentencing these six. 

The AIADMK and its chief minister have repeatedly revealed their anti-democratic character seeking the subversion of the fundamental rights of the people and civil liberties.  The manner in which the state government employees were treated earlier this year, when they went on a legitimate strike had clearly exposed the anti-democratic character of the AIADMK.  That particular action had resulted in the by now infamous observations by the Supreme Court that the workers had no fundamental, constitutional or moral right to strike.

This decision, however, came in the name of protecting the privileges of the legislative assembly. The articles that earned the wrath of the Tamilnadu assembly's Privileges Committee were three news reports and an editorial titled "Rising Intolerance" published by The Hindu on April 25, 2003.  Far from making any case that may suggest the demeaning or lowering of the prestige of the assembly, the charges against the paper were descriptive words used in the reports such as "fumed", "incensed", "high pitched tone", etc, describing the speeches of the chief minister on a few occasions. The editorial was regarding the decision to refer these reports to the assembly's privileges committee. It made a significant point that the question of privilege must be invoked only when there is a material obstruction of the functioning of a legislature and that power must not be used to protect and insulate the legislatures from criticism. 

The question of legislative privilege emerged when the parliamentary system in Britain was struggling to defend itself against the feudal monarchy. It was aimed at strengthening the independent functioning of the  legislature. It was certainly not meant to stifle criticism or trample upon  the fundamental right of free expression.  The Tamilnadu legislative assembly has done precisely this. Whether its motives are malafide or not will be taken up by the  Supreme Court which had ordered the stay of the arrest of the five people ordered by the Tamilnadu assembly speaker.  This, in itself, is a significant development. It is not often that a matter of legislative privilege is subjected to a judicial review.  Some guidelines need to be put down to ensure that the fundamental right of free expression that includes fair comment and criticism as enshrined in Article 19 of the Indian Constitution is not violated. 

The manner in which the Tamilnadu police swooped down on the offices of The Hindu and the residences of the concerned individuals in Chennai, once again, reveals the contemptible dictatorial streak of the Tamilnadu chief minister.  The   situation had reached such a pass that even after the Supreme Court's intervention of staying the arrest, the state police continued to harass and intimidate and, thus, obstruct the smooth functioning of The Hindu offices. This led to the request to deploy central security forces.  Fortunately, it is good that this did not happen.  The chief minister assured the central government of the state government's resolve to uphold the Supreme Court orders. 

This attack on The Hindu is not to be seen merely as an attack on one individual newspaper.   The Hindu is universally rated as one of the finest  daily newspapers in India.  By its own admission, it has reiterated on its 125th year of existence, its commitment to five guiding principles, including truth telling, freedom and independence and justice.  These are guiding principles that can only strengthen the reputation and credibility of a free press.  The action against The Hindu is, thus, an action against the entire freedom of the  press and the fundamental right of free expression.

Such attempts to muzzle the press have been seen before.  Importantly, they have failed before. The Tamilnadu chief minister has the reputation of assaulting the freedom of the press on many an occasion earlier. A day after the  Supreme Court judgement, the Tamilnadu government has filed yet another  defamation case against The Hindu.  This comes over and above the sixteen criminal defamation cases filed by the government that are pending.  Since the AIADMK came to power in May 2001, an array of publications have been subjected to such defamation cases.

Such contempt for the free and independent media in the country and such crude and outrageous methods employed to stifle criticism and enforce abject servility cannot be tolerated.  This was reflected in large scale mass protests that spontaneously took place all over the country. An indignant media was joined by all political and social forces that cherish the fundamental rights of expression and democratic rights.  While the  courts will give their legal opinion, it is the duty of all Indians to ensure that the fundamental rights, civil liberties and democracy in our country cannot be allowed to be trampled upon.  Those who seek to do this must be taught a political lesson.