Author: Editorial
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: October 3, 2002
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/2002/Oct/03/printedition/031002/detEDI02.shtml
Is Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee reliving
his Stalinist past? Of late, there has been much heat and dust over the
Centre's harassment of Tehelka and other media organisations.
An inability to handle criticism,
however, is not an NDA monopoly. For those who see everything as a study
in contrast, it may come as a surprise that Marxist-ruled West Bengal may
be showing unhealthy signs in its dealings with the journalistic fraternity.
Last week, when journalists went
to the secretariat to cover the impact of a half- day strike, members of
the CPI(M)-backed coordination committee manhandled a group of mediapersons.
Minutes after the chief minister expressed regret over the fracas, he also
stated that reporters were making a big deal out of "a small minority in
the secretariat when the majority is doing normal work". To add insult
to injury, he added that the journalists were thereby "not playing by the
rules and overstepping the limits".
This incident was not an isolated
event. A few days before, at a function at the administrative training
institute, Mr Bhattacharjee - who, along with the media, was invited by
the institute's director - shooed journalists away. The reason? He wanted
to make a critical analysis of government workers and "didn't want the
press listening in". Living in times when one is clamouring for more transparency,
the Left Front government seems to have the remnants of a Soviet-type censorship
still running in its veins.
Mr Bhattacharjee, in particular,
doesn't have a particularly good track record when it comes to dealing
with the press. Even before he took over from Jyoti Basu, he favoured the
dismantling of the 'Press Corner' inside Writers' Buildings in 1993. He
was apparently peeved by the way the media was showing 'preference' towards
Mamata Banerjee. As deputy chief minister, he ignored an incident of the
coordination committee goons beating up journalists. Those responsible
for the assault were freed, while a 'press code' was imposed on reporters.
Someone should tell the chief minister that his handling of the press does
little to differentiate him from his media-phobic antagonists elsewhere.
