New Delhi: Media organisations who have been critical of the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government are receiving legal notices and this has raised concerns regarding the freedom of press in the state.
In at least two recent incidents, the West Bengal government has allegedly curtailed press freedom after media organisations had reportedly put out reports against the state government. The recent resignation of Anirban Chattopadhyay, editor of Anandabazar Patrika, the largest circulated Bengali daily in the state, is believed to have come after the government “pressurised” the group to ensure the editor’s exit from the organisation. The newspaper had been recently putting out a series of reports highlighting the failure of the West Bengal government in handling the coronavirus and Cyclone Amphan crises in the state and this is what did not go down well with the Bengal government.
The Anandabazar Patrika had received legal notice from the West Bengal government, allegedly over their “negative reporting about the state government” in the last month.
Even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had lashed out at the ABP group during a press conference at the State Secretariat, Nabbana, on 27 May.
In her attack against the ABP group, Banerjee said, “The role of some media organisations in the state has been terrible and I am sorry to say this that the ABP owned newspaper is the worst in this. Your paper did not give time to the state government to respond to the crisis and immediately started maligning the government. You have done unthinkable damage to the state’s image and you will realise this only when you face some problems.”
Immediately after this comment by the CM, Anirban Chattopadhyay was summoned by the Hare Street police station on a complaint lodged by the Bengal government’s information and cultural affairs department on 5 April against the “editor and other responsible persons”. Police sources in Kolkata said that cases against the newspaper and the Editor were lodged after the newspaper had published some news reports on how the state government was failing to provide health infrastructure in the state and how the state government was not prepared to deal with Cyclone Amphan. Police sources said that the government felt that this newspaper was publishing “fake news” against the government and hurting the state’s interest. Not only this, another major Bengali news channel, Calcutta News Network (CN News), also alleged that the state government had blocked the broadcast of the news channels in various districts of the state after the channel had done a series of reports and shows on the ration crisis in Bengal and how the Bengal government was allegedly “mucking up” the coronavirus crisis in the state.
CN News is perhaps the only major news channels that had been highly critical of the Mamata Banerjee government in the state. Senior reporters from the news channel that this correspondent spoke to said that the news channel (CN News) has been working to highlight the plight of the people in Bengal at this time of crisis. This did not go down well with the Bengal government, following which many cable operators were forced by Trinamool Congress workers to blackout the channel in their respective districts.
“It came to light in the last few weeks of May when our viewers had started complaining that they were either getting a colour bar block or black screens while tuning in to Calcutta News. We enquired about the issue and came to understand that the state government was putting pressure on cable operators to blackout this channel as it was being critical of the state government. It seems that no one can criticise the Bengal government and Mamata Banerjee or else her authoritarianism and power will try to muzzle you,” a senior official of Calcutta News said.
Even reporters from other news organisations that this correspondent spoke to have said that no media organisation dares to take on Mamata Banerjee openly as they “fear the wrath” of the administration. “In Bengal, it is very difficult to write anything bad about the Bengal government. This government is too quick to file cases and as many of them would be non-bailable, nobody takes a risk. The state government and even the police here in Bengal are quick to label any news that is against the government as ‘fake news’. Mamata Banerjee does not like hearing criticism,” a news correspondent from a Bengali daily in Kolkata said.
Even earlier last month, the editor of a local online news channel “Aarambagh TV” was facing arrest for a news report where the channel had shown how local police stations were handing out cash to local clubs amid the coronavirus crisis. Cases were registered against the editor of the news channel in the local police station and his family was allegedly threatened by local Trinamool goons.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankar has taken on the Bengal government for trying to curtail press freedom in the state.