Image Courtesy:indianexpress.com
Yesterday, SabrangIndia had reported how Deccan Herald, a prominent Bengaluru-based English Language newspaper, had carried a quiz, purportedly a part of a consumer outreach program by the publication, which insinuated that Fr. Stan Swamy was linked to a banned Maoist group.
The quiz asked readers to identify a person who recently passed away, based on a series of images:
1) the Bhima Koregaon Pillar,
2) advocate and union leader Sudha Bharadwaj,
3) a white hammer and sickle against a red background (a logo of the banned group CPI-Maoist).
This wove in with the narrative spun by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) who claim that Fr. Stan Swamy was associated with CPI – Maoist, a banner left wing terror group. Truth is Fr. Stan was an activist for Adivasi rights and had campaigned against their mass incarceration. Trade unionist and labour rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj was also wronged, given how the timing of the quiz coincided with her case. The quiz and its choice of images, therefore, are not only in poor taste, but also defamatory, given how no charges against Fr. Stan or Bharadwaj have been proven so far. It is also dangerous because it can sway public opinion against Fr. Stan and Bharadwaj by subtly creating a connection in people’s minds between them and Maoists.
Enraged activists and citizens groups then wrote to the Editor of Deccan Herald asking, “How did the editorial staff not see the absurdities inherent in this advertisement? This oversight, if done inadvertently, is indicative of unprofessionalism, and if done deliberately smacks of malicious bias.” The further demanded that Deccan Herald “withdraw this false and malicious content immediately, and issue an apology for the same.”
In an email response to the letter, Sitaraman Shankar, Editor Deccan Herald said, “We understand that the July 15 edition of the Visual Connect reader engagement quiz, curated by a third party, has hurt the sentiments of a section of readers. This was clearly not the intention and we regret any offense caused. We have said so in today’s paper.” Shankar then clarified the editorial position on the Bhima Koregaon accused saying, “We have consistently maintained that Ms Bharadwaj and others have been denied constitutional and Human rights and have demanded justice for them in our editorials, including in our edit on Fr. Stan Swamy’s death.”
Related:
Deccan Herald caught in sly attempt to malign Fr. Stan Swamy