10) PROMINENT JOURNALIST REVEALS PRESSURE TO SUPPORT INDIA'S PM MODI
PV Vancouver Bureau
One of the best-known radio and print journalists in British Columbia's South Asian community has resigned from his job rather than bow to management pressures to censor criticisms of India's Prime Minister Nardendra Modi.
Gurpreet Singh had worked at Surrey-based Radio India for about 13 years, hosting a popular morning news and talk show with a wide range of guests in both Punjabi and English. His is also a frequent contributor to the free Vancouver weekly Georgia Straight, and to People's Voice. Earlier this year, he led the initiative to begin publication of Radical Desi, a monthly magazine which explores issues from a left perspective.
But Gurpreet Singh's employment at Radio India has come to an abrupt end, in a dispute with management over coverage of responses to the upcoming U.S. visit by Modi.
As Singh explains in a Georgia Straight commentary, "Modi was earlier denied entry by the U.S. because of his government's complicity in the anti‑Muslim pogrom in the state of Gujarat in 2002. Modi was chief minister of Gujarat when police allowed thousands of Muslims to be murdered by mobs led by Hindu fundamentalist leaders. Following the change of guard in India after the last election, the U.S. is now inviting Modi without caring for concerns raised by human‑rights groups."
The "Modi lobby" appears to be pressuring the South Asian media in North America. A search of such media outlets shows little criticism of the new PM, but considerable positive coverage.
As Singh reports, "August 5 ... was my last day as news broadcaster and talk‑show host with Radio India. I was told by my former employer that we should start endorsing Modi's proposed visit to the U.S. instead of giving voice to anyone who opposes it.
"The provocation was my live interview with the spokesman of Sikhs For Justice, which has launched a petition asking the U.S. government to cancel Modi's visit. I was told that Sikhs For Justice supports a theocratic Sikh state and under no circumstances such groups should be given any kind of legitimacy.
"I do not agree with the agenda of Sikhs For Justice and being a secularist myself, I can never support any kind of theocracy. But being a journalist, I was only trying to give voice to a group that has launched an initiative on a very pressing issue.
"I had to explain that Modi's proposed visit is not just being opposed by Sikhs For Justice but other non‑Sikh activists too. But all my arguments fell on deaf ears. I was rather told that if I cannot do this, the nature of my duties can be changed. I therefore adamantly decided to quit rather than continue working there."
Initially thinking that the incident might be related to "internal conflicts" at the radio station, Singh asked to have his employment terminated, but the manager refused to fire him, essentially forcing him to resign.
Singh decided to go public about "the threat of an undeclared censorship in India and its impact overseas."
He points out that Modi's Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) opposed the state of emergency and media censorship imposed on India by the Congress party in 1975, when Modi himself went underground to avoid arrest. Ironically, since Modi was elected last May with a majority in Parliament (but only about 30% of the popular vote), a wave of attacks on free expression has begun.
He gives a number of examples, including the arrests of 13 students in Kerala state, for mocking Modi in college magazines. In one case, students were arrested for including Modi in a list of "negative faces", such as Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, and George W. Bush. In another, a Marxist youth activist was arrested in August for allegedly defaming Modi on Facebook.
A mocking comedy play named after the BJP's election slogan "Ache Din Aane Wale Hain" ("Happy days are coming") was banned in Chandigarh, which is represented in parliament by Kiron Kher, a film actor turned BJP MP.
As Singh writes, "Obviously, a sense of fear and intimidation prevails among the members of civil society in India due to these incidents. There is also a feeling that this may spill over to Canada and the U.S., especially in areas with sizable South Asian communities."
"I have no animosity against my former employer, who has always helped me in the past, first by hiring me and allowing me freedom on many occasions," says Singh. "But how he has succumbed to such pressure now can only be explained by him.
"For me the bigger issue is a challenge coming from fascist forces that are blatantly attacking free expression under a right-wing government. All we need is a strong initiative against fascism and the sophisticated ways it can muzzle independent voices."
Radical Desi held a meeting in Surrey on August 9, with representatives from progressive groups and media outlets. Among them was Tejinder Kaur, who said that she was fired by a Punjabi radio station under similar circumstances.
Many other groups expressed their support for initiatives to defend free expression, including the Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians, East Indian Defence Committee, Progressive Cultural Center, Communist Party of Canada, Fraser Valley Peace Council, Watan Magazine, Rationalist Society, Aam Aadmi Party, Chetna Association, and South Asian Review.
People's Voice will report on further developments in our next issue. For Gurpreet Singh's full commentary, visit www.straight.com.
(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)