Behave yourselves, Or else… Jaya reminds Media of Past!

The office of the Tamil bi-weekly ‘Nakkeeran’ was attacked by ADMK activists on Jan.7 after it carried a report describing Jayalalitha as a beef-eater. ADMK goons came in batches, burnt copies of the magazine (Incidentally, Jayalalitha’s portrait adorned the wrapper) and threw stones, logs, broomsticks, chappels etc., damaging window shields, cars and other vehicles parked inside and near the office.

Infuriated and intoxicated ADMK men and women entered the Nakkeeran office on Jani Jahan Khan Road at Royapettah in Chennai after assaulting the watchman. They demanded the arrest of Nakkeeran editor R.R.Gopal. After they cleared, another batch led by Velachery MLA M.K.Ashok arrived and locked the office. They were ‘removed’ by the police, who broke up the lock and released mediapersons who had gone inside to collect reports. After sometime, a few Chennai Corporation councillors reached the spot with their supporters. Besides burning copies of the magazine, they hurled broomsticks and footwear into the office. Later, senior most ADMK leader, who is the chairperson of the presidium of the party, E. Madhusoothanan staged a protest in front of the office. The protesters, in tune with ADMK culture, shouted vulgar slogans and epithets, that residents of the road, mostly Muslim men and women, could not hear and shuddered.

Elsewhere in the city and all over the state ADMK functionaries and ministers led groups of vandals protesting against Nakkeeran. They threatened shopkeepers, seized copies of the magazine and burnt them and effigies of its editor Gopal. They threatened shopkeepers of dire consequences if they continue to sell the magazine in future. Ministers K.T.Rajendra Balaji, who is also ADMK district secretary, burnt copies at Tiruthangal, Virudhunagar, Aruppukottai, Kariapatti, Tiruchuzhi and Mallankinaru. MLAs R.B.Udayakumar and K.Gopalsamy also participated.

That such openly intimidatory and violent protests, participated by senior ADMK leaders, functionaries, ministers and MLAs were orchestrated all over the state at the same time on Jan.7, proves that these dastardly actions were carried out on the directive of Jayalalitha from Poes Garden, because nothing and none moves in ADMK without ‘Amma’s blessings.’

As if further to prove that these illegal actions were carried out at the behest of the power-centre, the police were not only passive spectators to the hooliganism let loose by ADMK cadre, but also filed cases against Nakkeeran editor R.R.Gopal under six severe sections including for possession of deadly weapons and assault causing grievous injuries  etc., The office of the magazine and the residence of Gopal were searched by police for arresting him and a hunt was launched for nabbing him. Power and drinking water connections were cut not only for the magazine office but for the entire road severely affecting the residents.

Whatever may be the objection of the ADMK party cadre and its leadership to the report concerned, violence and unlawful protests cannot be justified when there are lawful means to take on the magazine.

And this is not the first time Nakkeeran magazine, and for that reason the entire media were subjected to attacks under Jayalalitha’s dispensation. This may be the beginning, during her present tenure, of her usual assault against the media and Freedom of Speech whenever she is in power.

Between 1991 and 1996, during Jayalalitha’s first tenure as CM, the ADMK regime filed 146 cases against Nakkeeran and its journalists. On several occasions, copies of the magazine were seized and burnt. Sale of the magazine was blocked and its vendors were threatened, electricity supply to the magazine office was cut and one of its journalists Kadiraidurai, was beaten up by an ADMK office-bearer and suffered fractures.

After the ADMK came to power in May 2001, it began targeting Nakkeeran again. Its editor Gopal was arrested by the CB-CID under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) on April 11, 2003 and languished in prison for nearly eight months.

Between 1991 and 1993, during Jayalalitha’s first tenure, 180 defamation cases were filed against journalists, political leaders and lesser politicians. By the end of her term in mid-1996, such cases crossed 400 mark.

Massive protests by media organisations all over the country and political parties erupted in April 1992 when TN Assembly Speaker issued warrants of arrest against K.P. Sunil, former correspondent of The Illustrated Weekly of India; S. Selvam, Editor of Murasoli, the DMK organ; and S.K.I. Sunther, Editor of Kovai Malai Murasu (a Tamil eveninger).

Sunil approached the Supreme Court, which stayed the arrest. But the Speaker asked the Madras (now Chennai) Police Commissioner to ignore the stay order. The Speaker claimed that the sovereignty and supremacy of the legislature could not be questioned in any forum or under any law. (The Supreme Court has since ruled that the Constitution is supreme, and that proceedings in legislatures are subject to judicial review.) A three-member Bench of the Supreme Court referred Sunil's petition to the Constitution Bench, which referred the matter, in 1997, to Speaker P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan, who dropped the proceedings. The DMK, headed by Kalaignar, was in power then.

During 1991-1996 when Jayalalitha headed the ADMK government the media faced intimidation and even violence. Police swooped on Tamil magazines' offices, illegal seizure of magazine copies, prior restraint on publication of articles, arrests of editors, assaults on reporters, snapping of electricity supply, ransacking of magazine offices, and defamation cases, were seen then.

After the ADMK returned to power in May 2001, of all the newspapers and journals, ‘The Hindu’ too came under the scanner, with the government slapping on it a string of criminal defamation cases. The seventeenth, was filed on November 10, 2003 on the news report headlined "People's court only way out for opposition", published on April 13, 2003. The newspaper faced a civil suit too. On November 7, 2003 the Assembly sentenced five representatives of The Hindu and the Editor of Murasoli.

Its Editor-in-Chief N. Ram called the defamation case "a new avatar, but it is not a very fearsome avatar". The then Assembly Speaker K. Kalimuthu had suo motu referred the report to the Privileges Committee of the House in April. What the Speaker found objectionable included the portions: "the chastisement that they received at the hands of the Chief Minister", and "Most of the legislators were shocked at the epithets the Chief Minister threw at the opposition for its `behaviour'. Although the Privileges Committee recommended seven days' imprisonment to the writer, the punishment was dropped because the Chief Minister suggested on November 7 that it need not be pressed. But it took "a new birth" as a criminal defamation case after the nationwide outrage over the Assembly sentencing journalists on November 7.

Other publications that were facing defamation cases filed by the ADMK government include The New Indian Express, India Today, Outlook, The Statesman, The Telegraph, The Times of India and Tamil dailies Dinamalar and Dinakaran.

"Confusion results from reading newspapers. But people are not confused. In general, people do not read newspapers. They watch television." This was how Jayalalitha responded in the Assembly on November 5, 2003, when V. Sivapunniyam of the CPI spoke about the scare among people following newspaper reports that non-conversion of their ration cards into honorary ration cards by October 31 would invite penal action.

In a statement on October 6 Jayalalitha had explained why she "generally" tried to "avoid meeting the media". The previous day she had had a brief interaction with the media at the Secretariat after a Cabinet meeting. She said in her statement: "I find that, as usual, most sections of the media including most of the newspapers, have chosen to wilfully misinterpret my responses to their queries. At the Cabinet meeting... the issue involving the then Union Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, M. Kannappan, was not discussed at all. The Cabinet met to consider the designs submitted by various architects for the new Secretariat complex to be constructed shortly.

"When mediapersons asked me whether any decision was taken by the Cabinet, I did not think they were referring to the Kannappan issue since the Cabinet met only to discuss the designs for the new Secretariat complex. It was that matter I had in mind when I replied that no decision was taken and that the decision has been deferred. However, practically all sections of the media have reported that the Cabinet did not take a decision on the Kannappan issue."

(Jayalalitha had written to the then Prime Minister Vajpayee on September 22, asking that Kannappan be dropped from the Cabinet for his speech a few days earlier in support of the banned LTTE. The media had reported that the government was "waiting for the Prime Minister's response" before taking a decision on arresting Kannappan.)

On April 4, 1987, when M.G. Ramachandran was Chief Minister, Assembly Speaker P.H. Pandian sentenced S. Balasubramanian, Editor of Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan to three months' rigorous imprisonment for breach of privilege for publishing a cartoon deriding Ministers and MLAs. This led to countrywide protests and Balasubramanian was released after a couple of days in prison. He preferred to go to prison rather than apply for bail. (It was Pandian who at that time propounded the infamous doctrine of "sky-high powers" for legislatures.) But Balasubramanian challenged the sentence on him as unconstitutional in the Madras High Court. In his petition he said the privilege issue was not referred to the Privileges Committee at all. So he got no chance to explain his case. He, therefore, felt that his rights had been violated.

The full Bench of the Madras High Court ruled in 1994 that there had been "a gross violation of law as also the principles of natural justice" and of Balasubramanian's fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The Full Bench ordered a compensation of Rs.1,000 to him.

On July 1, 1985, when MGR was Chief Minister, the Assembly sentenced A.M. Paulraj, Editor of trade magazine Vaniga Ottrumai (Traders' Unity) to two weeks' simple imprisonment for an article in the February 1983 issue, which the House found to be derogatory. Paulraj ultimately served the sentence.

When MGR was Chief Minister the Assembly enacted the draconian Scurrilous Writing Act - which made scurrilous writing a non-bailable offence. After protests broke out, the Act was repealed in 1984.

So, as she was accustomed to, Jayalalitha’s targeting ‘Nakkeeran’ for action, once again during her present tenure, is in a way a reminder to the entire media of her past record, so as to caution them of the consequences they have to face if they don’t behave themselves. But even without her reminder, by and large, the media in Tamil Nadu, so far, have been unabashedly displaying their loyalty to her more than her party minions. In a democratic system, media, as the pulse and voice of the people, is expected to be more vocal during oppressive regimes than in liberal days. But Media in Tamil Nadu set an antithesis to the democratic perception. It is unfortunate that the media as a whole journalists and journalists organizations have not come forward to register even feeble protest against the attack on the magazine. Long live Freedom of Speech!