By Ranjona Banerji
The Supreme Court decision to set up an expert committee to look into the Pegasus spyware case is a tiny glow of good news in an increasing difficult media situation in India.
The observations of the Chief Justice of India, when faced with the Government of India’s obfuscations, obstructions and fallback of the general broad umbrella of “national security” to justify using military grade spyware on journalists, are heartening indeed.
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pushback-on-pegasus-supreme-court-7594173/
https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/win-for-investigative-journalism-n-ram-on-supreme-courts-pegasus-order-184558
CJI NV Ramana said in his judgment, “It is undeniable that surveillance and the knowledge that one is under the threat of being spied upon can affect the way an individual decides to exercise his or her rights. Such a scenario might result in self-censorship. This is of particular concern when it relates to the freedom of the press, which is an important pillar of democracy. Such chilling effect on the freedom of speech is an assault on the vital public watchdog role of the press, which may undermine the ability of the press to provide accurate and reliable information.” (I quote from The Times of India.)
How good does that sound? If you were asleep, a series of investigations have revealed how governments, mainly totalitarian, have used Israeli military-grade spyware to snoop on journalists, human rights activists, government officials and politicians. India has been a massive user of Pegasus, according to these investigations. The latest revelation was in July this year by a global consortium of media outlets, which showed how over 180 journalists were possible targets of Pegasus.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/ft-editor-roula-khalaf-among-180-journalists-targeted-nso-spyware
However, while the Court has rejected the Government of India’s defence of “national security”, there is also a compelling argument that the SC has not gone far enough. Unfortunately, this is where I stand as well. A committee with a retired judge and a few members of civil society – former government officials – is likely to go the way of all such committees in the past. A bit of bandaid and a kissie from Mummy is okay for now but is a placebo salve for that massive lump gouged out of India’s democracy.
Alok Prasanna Kumar raises that red flag here:
https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/supreme-court-ignores-where-there-is-a-right-there-is-a-remedy-adage-in-pegasus-order#read-more
The problem with India’s media is not just government interference, control and threats. It is the extent to which a large portion of the Indian mainstream media has capitulated to this Modi government, more than it has to any other government in the past.
The relentless targeting of minorities, the constant creation of bogeys like “Hindu khatre mein hain” and “love jihad”, these are all media tactics to allow the BJP and its Hindutva brigade a free pass to the destruction of a Constitutional India. Even if I wish the SC had done more with Pegasus, I know the Chief Justice’s words about the freedom of the press are incomprehensible to most of India’s mainstream anchors, editors and media owners. I hope that the journalists that remain within have more understanding.
It has taken, for instance, almost a week for the Indian media to check in on the rampant violence against Muslims in Tripura, a BJP-ruled state. I understand we have been obsessed with Aryan Khan and drugs and so on. But this wilful blindness to concentrated violence is not a mistake. It is deliberate.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-59047517
https://thewire.in/communalism/tripura-mosque-vandalised-shops-houses-attacked-vhp-rally
Or perhaps the SC is correct when it says surveillance can have a chilling effect on the freedom of the press.
Except of course that most of the journalists under surveillance are those who stand against, not those who capitulate!
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia every Tuesday and Friday. Her views here are final