War on Journalism in India
Fake news has taken on a new and aggressive form in India. Many journalists are under fire for reporting factual, hard feature news that paints the government in a negative light, and needless to say, the Indian government is not responding kindly in turn. Often fabricated news gets put under scrutiny when published, but that is the opposite in India. There it appears, fabricated false news gets published and even praised by the government while when outside journalist try to fact check or publish stories that feature more gritty details the government does not reveal, things get ugly.
Many of these journalist are being publicly ridiculed and shamed openly on social media. And not by average people with opinions, but by public officials themselves. On their social media, Twitter specifically, journalist are being blasted. They are being degraded and said to be "anti-nationalist." A common used phrase to describe journalist not fabricating false work is “Jihadi.” or “Presstitute.”
The insults are brazen, and it is appalling to see this kind of behavior exhibited from political officials. These are the people responsible for running a nation, and yet, they are not acting in an dignified manner in the slightest.
There are several cases of this being seen. Rana Ayyub was recently under fire for her publications defending hateful social media posts against Muslim Indians. She admits to being called "Jihadi" and slandered openly by the Indian government. This was not her first time she stepped up and said something opposing what the Indian government was doing, and each time the government has responded in a highly negative way. She has written several articles speaking out against the mistreatment and injustice committed against the people.
There is a reason the Indian government has been targeting Ayyub. Apparently Indian government is not above using unlawful fear, violence, and intimidation to keep its citizens quiet. She recently interviewed a family whose thirteen year old son was beaten severely by police for being associated with a protest. They came in the night and held him the whole evening. They repeatedly beat him while he was strapped to a post. When he refused to talk, they continued to essentially torture him. His father wanted to file a complaint against the police and try to get justice for what they did to his son, but he knew there would be no point. It is stories like this that Ayyub is writing about, and that is exactly why the government wants to keep her quiet.
It is not as if she, and other brave journalist like her, are writing false claims and stirring up controversy for views. They are doing their job; they are writing and publishing the story how it is. They are telling the facts of what is going on in their country, and just like many journalist before them, they are receiving heavy heat from it. They are not the first, and they will certainly not be the last. But they are doing their duty to the people and keeping them informed even if that means facing sever punishment for their actions. Its sickeningly ironic that it is the fabricated news that is being praised, and the real news that is being slammed with the journalist themselves at risk.
Many of these journalist are being publicly ridiculed and shamed openly on social media. And not by average people with opinions, but by public officials themselves. On their social media, Twitter specifically, journalist are being blasted. They are being degraded and said to be "anti-nationalist." A common used phrase to describe journalist not fabricating false work is “Jihadi.” or “Presstitute.”
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| Union minister tweet regarding journalists |
The insults are brazen, and it is appalling to see this kind of behavior exhibited from political officials. These are the people responsible for running a nation, and yet, they are not acting in an dignified manner in the slightest.
There are several cases of this being seen. Rana Ayyub was recently under fire for her publications defending hateful social media posts against Muslim Indians. She admits to being called "Jihadi" and slandered openly by the Indian government. This was not her first time she stepped up and said something opposing what the Indian government was doing, and each time the government has responded in a highly negative way. She has written several articles speaking out against the mistreatment and injustice committed against the people.
There is a reason the Indian government has been targeting Ayyub. Apparently Indian government is not above using unlawful fear, violence, and intimidation to keep its citizens quiet. She recently interviewed a family whose thirteen year old son was beaten severely by police for being associated with a protest. They came in the night and held him the whole evening. They repeatedly beat him while he was strapped to a post. When he refused to talk, they continued to essentially torture him. His father wanted to file a complaint against the police and try to get justice for what they did to his son, but he knew there would be no point. It is stories like this that Ayyub is writing about, and that is exactly why the government wants to keep her quiet.
It is not as if she, and other brave journalist like her, are writing false claims and stirring up controversy for views. They are doing their job; they are writing and publishing the story how it is. They are telling the facts of what is going on in their country, and just like many journalist before them, they are receiving heavy heat from it. They are not the first, and they will certainly not be the last. But they are doing their duty to the people and keeping them informed even if that means facing sever punishment for their actions. Its sickeningly ironic that it is the fabricated news that is being praised, and the real news that is being slammed with the journalist themselves at risk.
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