The Hindu : Tehelka scribe arrest termed attack on freedom of press

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 08, 2002

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Tehelka scribe arrest termed attack on freedom of press

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI AUG. 7. The arrest of the Tehelka journalist, Anirudh Bahal, by the Delhi police today was decried by several distinguished citizens as an attack on the "freedom of the press" and "act of vendetta" by the Government against the portal which had exposed corruption in high offices through its sting operation, "West End''.

Speaking at a protest meeting organised by the Press Club of India here this evening, the former Union Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani, expressed outrage at the incident and said he was convinced that the Tehelka staffers were being hounded and persecuted. "I had advised the Government against adopting such a stance after the Tehelka expose, but the response was a resounding silence,'' he said.

The editor of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, said this was the third case against his website or staffers since the expose. The CBI had earlier registered cases under the Official Secrets Act and the Wildlife Act. "The assault has gone on relentlessly. In the Venkatswami Commission, the Government took the most "despicable stance" with the intent of derailing the investigation. It has taken the moral position of protecting the corrupt and targeting those who exposed corruption,'' he alleged.

Stating that due to this "selective targeting" -- which involved cracking down on the Tehelka promoter, First Global -- the staff strength had dropped from about 120 to 15 with the employees now mostly busy with the cases, Mr. Tejpal alleged that efforts were on to gag and destroy those who dared to stand up and identify the corrupt.

On his part, Mr. Bahal claimed he was arrested on an untrue and malicious statement of an officer for an incident which never happened. "What is the desperation of the Government and pressure on the police? We have been cooperating in the investigation but are still being persecuted.''

Mr. Bahal also alleged that his colleague, Kumar Badal, who was arrested in a case of Wildlife Act and was languishing in jail, was framed. "They found nothing on him and framed charges based on some telephone call records.''

Mr. Mark Tully, former BBC correspondent, wondered if these cases would have been lodged had Tehelka not exposed corruption in high offices. "Covert attacks are more dangerous than overt attacks,'' he said, and cautioned the media: ''You could be the next target of this sort of assault by the Government.''

The view was shared by political editor of Star News, Rajdeep Sardesai, who asserted it was time all mediapersons came together to protect the freedom of press.Social activist, Swami Agnivesh, while expressing solidarity with Tehelka said that it was sad that the Government was trying to stifle voices which were exposing corruption. He also accused the BJP-led NDA Government of "supporting" communal forces in Gujarat and suppressing the liberal viewpoint.

Academician Purshottam Agarwal said it was the mindset of the Government which made it prevent more Tehelka-type exposes. ''At a recent meeting, I was appalled at the manner in which the senior BJP leader, K.R. Malkani, suggested that rather than exposing the corrupt, the Tehelka team should have secretly informed the Prime Minister about their findings. This clearly showed that the party believed that corruption should be brushed under the carpet.''

Senior advocate, Rani Jethmalani, said the incident was reminiscent of the days of Emergency. "History is repeating itself, only the actors have changed,'' she said adding it was ironical that all this was happening when Sushma Swaraj -- who had defended George Fernandes in the dynamite case during Emergency -- was the Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

Another senior Supreme Court lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, accused the Government of systematically destroying institutions which were not under its control through an undeclared `emergency'. "If the press falls, there is no hope for this country in these turbulent times.''

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