There is an unwritten rule in the media world….. In the business of news, it is not intended that the journalists, themselves, hit the headlines. However, media persons have become the news in recent times for various reasons. Usually, newsmen find their places in inside pages of broadsheets when they win prestigious award, achieve feat or get attacked. And they secure their places in the front page only when they are murdered. In India, senior journalist and editor of Srinagar-based Rising Kashmir daily Shujaat Bukhari recently hit the front page headlines after he was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on the evening of June 14. Major English publications – including Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Reader, Kashmir Observer and Bukhari’s own Rising Kashmir – came out with blank editorials on June 19 to condemn the murder.

Shujaat Bukhari

In a report published recently, UNESCO has stated that 71 reporters died (or were killed) while on duty in different parts of the globe in 2017. Meanwhile, ‘Reporters Without Border’ has claimed that 326 media persons are in jails across the world, while 54 hostages are yet to be rescued and there is no information about two others. It is to be noted that all of them were ‘professional’ in a true sense and none reportedly had personal enemies. A senior official of UNESCO’s Communication and Information Department said: “A journalist is killed in every four days on an average.” In India, 29 journalists have been murdered so far this year. And the number will definitely rise at the end of 2018.
Syria and Mexico are the ‘deadliest country for reporters’, while Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines, too, have secured their places in this list. India is not far behind. As per data published by the UNESCO, 26 journalists had been killed in the South Asian country from 2010 to 2014. While three were murdered in 2011, five were killed in 2012, eight in 2013 and eight in 2014. This is the scenario in the world’s largest democracy.

The UNESCO further said that the number of physical attack on journalists has increased alarmingly across the globe in the last five years. It is clearly mentioned in the ‘World Trends for Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report 2017-18‘ that 86 journalists had lost their lives in Syria from 2007 to 2011. During this period, 46 media persons were killed in Iraq, 37 in Mexico, 36 in Somalia, 30 in Pakistan, 29 in Brazil, 21 each in the Philippines and Yemen, 20 in Afghanistan, 19 in Honduras, 17 in Libya, 14 in Guatemala, 10 each in Bangladesh and Ukraine, six each in Paraguay and Turkey, and four were murdered in France.

Three months ago, Bukhari wrote in Rising Kashmir: “Survival is the first challenge for journalism in Kashmir.” He was right. Survival is the biggest challenge for journalists, who don’t want to ‘compromise’. Bukhari was attacked thrice in the past and sacrificed his life in the fourth time.

In 1839, English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton said: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Perhaps, he was wrong. In the modern world, it’s seemingly an easy job for any outfit in any part of the world to cut off the head of a journalist and make the video of the murder ‘viral’ in order to showcase its strength. Perhaps, the fight between a pen and a sword is uneven. However, we know which one is the real winner.
Majority of the journalists don’t compromise with the ‘system’ and follow their own ethical standards….. Also, they don’t crate fake news or encourage paid news. They only want to tell the truth… But for that, journalists need public support. Only common people can help newsmen prove that Bulwer-Lytton was right.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das