Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s recent diplomatic visit to Norway and the Netherlands has sparked significant international debate over the state of media freedom within India.
Following these events, the Editors Guild of India (EGI) has issued a statement criticizing the government’s intolerance toward media questions.
In a statement released from New Delhi on Sunday, the Editors Guild said it was concerned over the “embarrassing stand-offs” between Indian government officials and journalists from Norway and the Netherlands during Modi’s recent visit to the two countries. According to the guild, the confrontation with the European media was triggered after the Prime Minister declined to take questions from local journalists following a press briefing.
The EGI highlighted that Norway and the Netherlands currently rank first and second on the World Press Freedom Index respectively, while India stands at 157 out of 180 countries. Referring to the response of an “angry Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs” to a Norwegian journalist’s question, the organization said India’s position in global press freedom rankings remains “abysmal.”
The guild stated that Western journalists may not be fully aware of India’s historical background or the important role played by Indian media in building awareness during the country’s freedom movement. However, it said the journalists were right in stressing the importance of asking questions in a democracy.
The statement further described it as “regrettable” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not addressed a single open press conference during his more than a decade in power.
According to the EGI, the same intolerance toward questioning is increasingly being manifested at both central and state government levels. It added that media restrictions hurt both the economy and society.
While acknowledging that people may disagree with the methodology or possible bias in international press freedom rankings, the Editors Guild said India’s poor standing in various press freedom rankings is a matter of grave concern and reflects an increasingly constrained space for the media to effectively discharge its role in a democracy.
Calling on the government not to treat the media as an adversary, the EGI said journalists are merely carrying out their responsibility of holding those in power accountable.