Cartoon by Awantha Artigala-Daily Mirror
Yet, the
illusion that one could write what one would want at a so-called free press
often goes into pieces.
After the
conclusion of war, censorship that had been there in black and white has become
a ghostly presence in every media institution. Sometimes, it comes in the form
of illogical midnight requests of omissions by the management. Then there are
taboos declared and dispensed by those even above the management.
Even with a
hierarchy that minimally interferes with the editorial functions, there are
hidden hands of the regime that could slip through the protective net to
throttle the necks of those who hold the pen.
This is exactly
how the impeachment motion against Chief Justice became a banned subject for
us. Ours is perhaps the only national English daily that carried editorial
after editorial, column after column questioning and cross-questioning the
regime’s shameless behaviour in dissecting and raping the independent structure
of the country’s judiciary. There were opinion pieces exposing the nudity of
the Executive and the spinelessness of the Legislature.
The
persistent attack was however to spur the conscience of the readers more than
to prick the wrong-doers in the eye. Of course, there was nothing wrong with
twisting Goebbels’ theory for a worthy cause; after all, it is not a lie that
is being repeated—but truth, more than the whole truth and nothing at all but
the truth!
One could not
be too sure whether our objective was fulfilled; for the dangerous dormancy of
the people still continues in abundance. As for the latter, they knew their
hands were smudged with dirt and blood; hence, they dreaded revelation. They
were the faceless, unreachable paragons of vagueness, hiding behind the humongous
shadow of the crown who drew the free flowing ink out of our pens.
With much
reluctance, the politically victimized CJ and the blatant insult to the
country’s virgin of Justice needed to be swept under the King’s carpet.
Perhaps, it is misinterpreting the mandate people granted the regime. Jumping
over the fundamental and ethical boundaries, the King even decides what his
subjects read!
Depriving the
citizen of his rightful morsel of information is tyranny.
At such
times, one has to read between the lines, decipher and decode the message. For
our hands are tied to a forced allegiance for a regime that we no longer
believe in; a government that could no longer be termed synonymously with the
state.
Did the
over-enthusiastic general public who took to the roads in support of the 18th Amendment find it
unfitting to oppose when the government trampled the Right to Information Bill?
The kingdom
of free media collapsed with the fall of Leader. With its knights dead and
having abandoned the fortress, it is just another security checkpoint taken
over by the regime.
The
Journalists and editors who do not go to taste the Kiri Buth at the Royal
Palace automatically become traitors the same way Macduff becomes one for
evading Macbeth’s banquet.
Well, tyranny
in modern times could come with a majoritarian Parliament and an overwhelming
public vote. Perhaps, Shakespeare’s Macbeth was a lamb when compared to the
contemporary wolves.
Perhaps,
censorship is a security measure for those who open their chests for bullets
for nothing. It saves the lives of those of us who hate to sugar-coat our
hatred and distaste. The price of life of a journalist has fallen so low
during the recent times.
It is not
worth dying for a citizenry who plays the statue when their rights and
liberties are massacred in the broad daylight; for it is very unlikely that
they will open their self-locked mouths in our demise when they were locked at
the loss of what is very much theirs.
