Brutal attack on.

“Kill me,” senior journalist Kamal Shukla is seen sitting dazed on the ground after he was   brutally attacked in Kanker, Chattisgarh on Saturday. The video shot/ shared by journalist Tameshwar Sinha attack was by criminals allegedly affiliated with the Congress-I led state government. Shukla just sat there, and when someone who was not very coherent on the phone video, asked if he would like to go, probably to a hospital or the police, he just said “no, [come] kill me all of you”.

The journalist who had been fighting for a law for the protection of journalists has been thrashed in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. @bhupeshbaghel Is Chhattisgarh becoming Uttar Pradesh now ? pic.twitter.com/wbJPKyyV3W

— Tameshwar Sinha (@tameshwarsinha2) September 26, 2020

Multiple, short phone videos, shared by journalist Tameshwar Sinha, some probably also shot by bystanders, witnessing the brutal attack by goondas who surrounded and beat up Shukla went viral, on social media over the weekend. In the most disturbing one, the gang of goons are seen raining blows on Shukla, in another he is seen sitting dazed. Shukla later told the media, after he had received first aid and was stable, that the attack was prompted by those opposed to his reports on illegal sand-mining and other irregularities in the area. Shukla, told local media that he had rushed to the aid of another journalist Satish Yadav, who had been attacked earlier, when he was dragged out and beaten. 

कांग्रेस की सरकार में सरेआम लोकतंत्र का हो रहा चीरहरण। पुलिस तमाशबीन बनी रही और कांग्रेसी गुंडे प्रदेश के वरिष्ठ पत्रकार कमल शुक्ला को सरेबाज़ार पीटते रहे।@bhupeshbaghel @thealokputul @riteshmishraht @patrakarvinod @RuchirjGarg @BastarManish @gyanendrat1 @kamalkanker pic.twitter.com/IW07Hw19Qp

— Mukesh Chandrakar (@MukeshChandrak9) September 26, 2020

The attackers who dragged him out of the police station are clearly visible in some of the  video but police took time to register an FIR, The Free Speech Collective reported that Kamal Shukla had said that he thought he would “get some protection inside the police station but the police were unresponsive and told him to file his complaint and leave. He was dragged out and beaten”.

Screenshot of video of the attack published in  free speech collective. 

This horrific attack on the journalist took place in daytime, and in a public place, shows how the goons had no fear of getting caught and punished, either by the law keepers or by the public. Kamal Shukla spoke to to the media after the attack

पत्रकार कमल शुक्ला ने पत्रकार सुरक्षा कानून की नींव रखी उसी पत्रकार को छत्तीसगढ़ के कांग्रेस सरकार राज में सिर फटते तक कांग्रेस के लोगो ने मार पीट किया। pic.twitter.com/lixADoBWVV

— Tameshwar Sinha (@tameshwarsinha2) September 26, 2020

“They want to kill me. I heard them saying “kill this Kamal Shukla. My journalist colleague Satish Yadav, has been reporting on these goons and raising a voice about the goons, who have been elected. They were angry at him and had dragged him to the police station. I came to the police station to support my colleague but the anti-social elements also gathered there” said Shukla. He has alleged that they were attacked, “inside the police station,”. He alleged that he called the area SP, and collector but no one picked up. He alleged that one man, who identifies himself as “a representative of the local Congress MLA, Shishupal Shori,” waved a pistol at him, “this must be recorded on the police CCTV.” Shukla says he was targeted because he has reported on Shori’s alleged involvement in sand smuggling. “The SHO told me to file my complaint report and leave, I realized I was not safe in the police station,” said Shukla, adding the mob attacked as soon as he stepped out of the police station.

Journalist Satish Yadav too spoke to the media about the attack on him and alleged that a “mob came in a car, and men named Jitesh Thakur, Maqsood Khan and others”, beat him and continued to do so as they dragged him “inside the thana”.

ये कांकेर के पत्रकार सतीश यादव है, पहले इन्ही को कांग्रेस के लोगो ने मार-पीट किया। एफआईआर की कॉपी निचे संलग्न है। इनके साथ मार पीट के घटना को लेकर पत्रकार थाने गए थे जंहा पत्रकार कमल शुक्ला के ऊपर जानलेवा हमला कर घायल किया गया। @rohini_sgh @thealokputul @alokshuklacg pic.twitter.com/vs7ZAyWC88

— Tameshwar Sinha (@tameshwarsinha2) September 26, 2020

Journalists in Chhatisgarh have protested the attack and demanded that the Bhupesh Baghel government take immediate action against the assailants. According to news reports, apart from Shukla and Satish Yadav, another reporter –  Jivand Haldhar – was also attacked.

According to a report in The Wire, the local police is treating the incident as one of ‘personal rivalry’ rather than press freedom, and one of the politicians has filed filed a counter complaint against the leading Chhattisgarh journalist Kamal Shukla, who is editor of Bhumkal Samachar magazine and head of the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti. The superintendent of police, M.R. Ahire, told The Wire that an FIR has been registered in the matter under sections 294 (public acts of obscenity), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).  Jitendra Singh Thakur, Ghaffar Memom, Ganesh Tiwari, Maqbool Khan and others have been named in the FIR. “However, the police have described the assault as a clash between two groups due to some ‘aapsi ranjish’ (personal rivalry)” stated the report.

And a “counter complaint” has also been registered by one of the accused, Ghaffar Memon. “We have also received a counter complaint against Shukla but it is yet to be converted in an FIR,” the Kanker SP told The Wire. In his complaint, Memon has alleged that it was Shukla who abused him and threatened to kill him. According to Memon, the incident started when Shukla abused him for not paying for an advertisement  published in his magazine. “Given that Shukla is a ‘criminal minded’ person and has a sedition case pending against him, I am afraid that he might do something untoward against me,” says Memon’s complaint to the police demanding strong action against the journalist.

However, according to Shukla these charges are only a hog wash, as the four accused were invited to the thana and then let off as these were bailable offences.  He is demanding atleast 307 (attempt to murder) and 324, stated The WIre report.

Speaking to Free Speech Collective, the SP of Kanker M R Ahire, said that necessary action will be taken against the perpetrators as appropriate in the law.  However, what emerged a few hours later were diluted charges against those who attacked Shukla. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel when asked to respond to the attacks on Shukla, said he condemns such attacks and that appropriate cases will be filed against the attackers. However Baghel claimed that his government was better than the previous Bharatiya Janata Party led government.  He took examples of the times when journalist  Santosh Yadav, was charged under Chhattisgarh Public Security Act, “even the news agency that had hired him refused to accept him as their reporter,” he said adding that there had been a difference visible “in the past two years,” asserting that press freedom was better in his  regime.

He was asked about the Chhattisgarh Protection of Mediapersons’ Act  – a bill that has been under discussion since a year, Baghel said the bills was in its final stage , stated news reports. Ruchir Garg, Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, told Free Speech Collective, “No doubt there has been a delay, but the processes of consultation though prolonged are on to have a good law in place”, he said reiterating that Justice Aftab Alam , under whose chairpersonship the consultation is being undertaken, has taken personal interest in taking the widespread suggestions that are pouring in.

Kamar Shukla has been at the forefront of the campaign demanding legislation for the protection of journalists in the state, reported The Wire. In April 2018 he was charged with Sedition, after he shared  on social media, a cartoon  that allegedly made derogatory references to the judiciary and the government,”. He has insisted he was falsely charged.

Related: 

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The post Press Freedom Under Severe Attack in Bastar appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Press Freedom Under Severe Attack in Bastar 

The Chhattisgarh police recently detained three journalists- Siddharthya Roy, a journalist working with The Diplomat, veteran journalist Kamal Shukla and video journalist Bhushan Choudhari. All three had travelled to Narayanpur to cover the run-up to the state Assembly elections scheduled for November 12. They were detained for eight hours. And only let off after significant pressure from human rights activists across the country.

Narayanpur is part of Bastar in Chhattisgarh and has been a hot-bed of Naxalite activity.

What do the people of Bastar want?
In an exclusive chat with Sabrang, Kamal Shukla talks to us about his experience, and clarifies misconceptions around the electoral process in Bastar. He also talks about the challenges villagers face and myths around the notion of ‘development’ in the area.

पुलिसिया वातावरण में पत्रकारिता : कमल शुक्ल

It must be noted that earlier this year, Kamal Shukla was booked on charges of sedition, adding him to the long list of journalists against whom the Chhattisgarh government has slapped spurious sedition charges.

Kamal Shukla starts by asking a basic question that is central to enforcing democratic institutions in the region, he says it is important to ask what do the people of Bastar want, “Do they want to get connected to the democratic systems/ institutions? Do they consider themselves citizens of India?”

In this connection he recollects the experience of his journey to the remote villages of Chhattisgarh, usually disconnected from the imagination of ‘development’ in the name of ‘Naxalite activity.’

“A couple of years ago, the people were hesitant to talk to journalists. But this time they surrounded us to talk to us,” noted Shukla while vividly describing every small detail.

He says, when he reached the villages, the people asked if he and the others had come as a representative of the government of India.

“If you have come as a representative then please send across our message that we want to participate in the elections, we want to vote,” they said. But they lamented, “The polling booths should be close to where we stay. Why do they ask us to travel 40-50 kilometres [in order to vote]?”

Shukla strongly feels that booth shifting is a mechanism to completely destroy the democratic institutions of the region and strongly claims in that Adivasis are indeed interested in casting their votes.
“It’s completely false to say that the areas in which Maoists are active, voting doesn’t happen or that people aren’t interested to vote.”

Shukla says that as people start talking, they complain that there are so many issues; the roads are in dilapidated condition, no school teacher comes to teach in the schools. However, these find no mention in the contesting parties’ manifestos. All manifestos talk about construction of roads, that too not for the villagers but for the armed forces to be conveniently able to travel inside.

“It’s the government that’s preventing people from becoming a part of the democracy —- and the mainstream,” he alleges.

“Interestingly the people who said this (demanded to vote) were the same young boys and girls who had even been captured on accusations of naxalism. If they were with the Maoists then why would they put forth such a demand?” asks Shukla.

He highlights the issue of false cases, in which police issues a press release about a certain Adivasi saying how they are Maoists. However, in 98% of such cases people are acquitted.

Shukla’s trysts with Police at Narayanpur
He relates the experience to how they were treated when they went to Narayanpur, “When we were stopped in Narayanpur, our cameras were snatched away in an unconstitutional manner.”Despite showing their identity documents to the police, they weren’t allowed to go and were informed that the police officials were waiting for some ‘senior officer’. The guest reporter, Siddharthya Roy, asked them to take them to these ‘higher officials.’ They were then taken to the Superintendent of Police’s (SP) office only by 9 pm after significant amount of pressure. The data from their memory cards was copied and a recovery software was run to find deleted files. They were repeatedly told that if they had sought permission then they would not have to face such problems.  Needless to say that nowhere in the world are journalists expected to take permission from any authorities to report from the ground.

In this context, Shukla recalls an interesting conversation with the SP from this visit.

SP Jiten Shukla: “You know, the journalists of Narayanpur are very good..they work as per our wishes”

Kamal Shukla: “Sir can you elaborate, how?”

SP Jiten Shukla: “Whatever we say they comply by it, agree to it”

A media Black hole
“I would say the condition of media in Bastar is that there is no media! There is the local media which reports from the ground. No established media houses want to give the journalists of Bastar a decent salary. Hence they have to work like contractors, they need to find other sources of livelihood,” said Shukla while talking about the plight of the local journalists.

“They have a lot of compulsions and work under a lot of pressures, they can’t defy the police,” he adds.

Shukla feels that the journalists in Bastar don’t have an alternative. Interestingly, he says, the news is always about the two development blocks in Narayanpur. If one pays attention to the stories from this area, only these two blocks are mentioned, there’s no mention of Abujhmad villages, another area in which the Naxalites are active.

“Since there is no media in these villages, the political parties don’t even go in these areas to campaign,” he adds.

This has led to a complete isolation of the people from these villages from the democractic procedures and mechanisms. “You have kept an entire population away from the ‘festival of democracy’ then how can you say that the people are not interested to vote?

Highlighting the existing conditions, he says that the Abujhmad area has not been surveyed, number of people, voters etc. isn’t known to the government.

Contrary to ‘popular’ perception, that Naxalites seem to be coercing villagers into not voting, Shukla says, “It is totally wrong to say that because of Naxalites’ boycott of the elections, people of Bastar don’t cast their votes.”

“Government shouldn’t approach the people only when they need votes, they should go otherwise too,” he adds.

He feels the best way to deal with this is to “implement constitution”. He adds that government has not shown any interest in implementing the PESA, 5^th Schedule or 6^th Schedule in these villages.
Shukla comes to a conclusion that the situation is not fit in Bastar to have a democratic and fair election.

“Governance had been removed from villages and shifted towards cities while the villages have been militarised and more and more armed forces have been left even in the interiors and remote corners.”
 

Related:
https://sabrangindia.in/article/election-watch-chhattisgarh-nobody-knows-modi-raman-singh-or-development-remote-areas
https://sabrangindia.in/article/election-watch-chhattisgarh-no-media-no-news-only-evms-and-governments
 

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