Why are Meghalaya journalists silent on Assam scribe’s arrest?

I am writing this article out of disappointment and despair. It’s been four days since an Assam journalist was first arrested in Guwahati on various charges. However, the fraternity members in Shillong, just 100 km from Guwahati, did not find time to release a condemnation statement against this unprecedented move by the Himanta Biswa Sarma government against press freedom.

Dilwar Hussain Mozumdar, the chief reporter of Guwahati-based news portal The CrossCurrent and assistant general secretary of the Guwahati Press Club, was first arrested on the night of March 25, hours after he was detained by Pan Bazar police. The arrest was based on a complaint lodged by the managing director of Assam Co-operative Apex Bank. Mozumdar had questioned the MD, Dombaru Saikia, on the alleged irregularities in the bank.

Himanta is the director of the bank and BJP MLA Biswajit Phukan is its chairman.

In 2021, The Wire and The CrossCurrent reported on a land scam linked to Himanta’s family.

Mozumdar was rearrested on Thursday after getting bail. On the same day, the Assam chief minister said, “Legacy media is recognised as journalists by the Assam government. But YouTube channels, portals – the recognition of these is just something that is being discussed. A decision has not been made on this… We don’t register them, we don’t give them advertisements, we don’t give them ID cards. So this person does not come under the Assam government’s understanding of journalist.”

Himanta’s statement is enough to unsettle the democratic fabric of the country and put media freedom at stake. Not that the country, since 2014, has been doing exemplary work in living up to its Constitution. But this incident in a North East state has once again proven that journalists, who are doing their real work and shunning the way to report insipid and shallow news to please political bosses, are not safe in any part of the country.

The national trend of incarcerating journalists for reporting against the party in power caught up with the North East in 2021 when a journalist in Manipur, Kishorchandra Wangkhem, was arrested under the National Security Act for a Facebook post questioning the efficacy of cow urine as a Covid-19 cure. Before Wangkhem, a political activist from the state, Erendro Leichombam, was arrested.

However, in none of the cases, the journalists’ fraternity in Meghalaya thought it right to release a statement condemning such undemocratic acts and highhandedness of the state machinery.

One wonders why this silence. Is it that the journalists in Meghalaya think they are well-protected and they care less? Or is it that they are confident enough that such incidents will not happen in Meghalaya? Or is it because they don’t care about honest and investigative reporting?

Himanta’s statement about digital media journalists is outrageous and should have shaken the association of digital media journalists in Meghalaya. Unfortunately, it remained unperturbed by this.

It is not a secret that our very own chief minister, Conrad Sangma, is quite stupefied by big brother Himanta’s aura. So, if a journalist in Meghalaya has to do an investigation against the government here, there is no guarantee that the state will not follow in the footsteps of Assam and treat the reporter the same way. Then why is there an uncanny silence in Meghalaya when the entire country is talking about the Assam journalist’s arrest?

In fact, the Meghalaya journalists should have joined the protests in the neighbouring state and fought for press freedom.

Recently, VPP chief Ardent Basaiawmoit questioned the integrity of a few journalists from a particular media house. But that, too, did not stir the hornet’s nest. That time too, the journalists chose to steer a safe course. Why? Did they know that they were at fault and any move on their part would have opened Pandora’s box? Or were they simply scared to take on the political power? The answer remains elusive even today.

Journalists across the country are facing political heat for being honest and bold. The indictment of any journalist in any state is an attack on media freedom and journalists in every other state must come out in protest against such a heinous act. But we choose to speak out only when we are attacked. We rise from our stupor when our houses are attacked. How long is too long till the dark shadow of nefarious political powers wears down our wait-and-watch attitude?

If we, as journalists, fail to protect our freedom, then no one can fight the battle for us. The Meghalaya journalists’ unacceptable silence is sending out a wrong message to those who, at any point in time, can use their power to silence voices that won’t stop asking questions. Now, it is too late for a statement and there is still time to act, because a timely action can save another Dilwar Hussain, Kishorchandra Wangkhem or Irfan Mehraj from becoming the victim of the State’s highhandedness.