The Killing Fields

When they go out for reporting, their families do not know whether they would come back safely. They do not know whether they will be coming in one piece in their official cars or in an ambulance with their body pierced with bullets. While journalists in metro cities on the one hand are being wooed by Public Relations guys with expensive drinks, gifts and foreign junkets, on the other hand they have to be constantly on guard to escape a snipers’ aim, hand grenades or hidden land mines buried in their way.

This breed of daredevil journalists is stationed in the conflict zones of India. Some of them live in the hostile terrains of Jammu & Kashmir, others in the picturesque but insurgency hit areas of North Eastern regions while still others in the hot, dusty and poverty stricken Naxalite areas of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

According to Committee to Protect the Journalists (CPJ), an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the global defence of press freedom, 27 journalists have been killed in India since 1992. A majority of those killed are from the conflict zones of India. This figure contains the names of those who were either murdered in direct reprisal for their work, or killed in crossfire during combat situations; or killed while carrying out a dangerous assignment such as coverage of a street protest.

Guwhati-based Rajib Chowdhury, Head of Channel 10 North East, who has more than 20 years of experience in print and television journalism, says, “It is really difficult for a journalist to work in the militancy-infested North Eastern part of the country. More than 20 editors, correspondents and reporters were mercilessly killed in Assam since 1987. A majority of them were killed by militant groups active in the region.”

Unlike their metro counterparts who earn well and drive expensive cars, the journalists working in these areas and especially those working in local newspapers in conflict zones are paid a pittance.
Says Rajib, “The condition of journalists working in the regional media is pathetic. Though most of my stints have been with the national media, I must confess that journalism has not yet been recognised as an industry here. Majority of the publications are under staffed and their workers are poorly paid. You would not be surprised to see an editor also doing day-to-day reporting, looking after advertisements et al. Apart from publications, a majority of the organisations do not issue appointment letters.”

While covering the insurgency, Rajib had a near death experience. “A number of times, I have had a close brush with death while doing stories about militants. But one incident that I would never forget was during the Bangladesh Rifles intrusion into Pyrdwah village on the Indo-Bangladesh border. I think I was the only reporter from national media reporting from ground zero. There was constant tension in the border with firing going on from both sides. This resulted in the death of over a dozen BSF personnel. It was a war like situation. I along with by camera person reached the BSF post, which was taken over by the BDR. I was lucky to get some visuals but while returning we fell into the hands of the BDR. The commanding officer ordered that we be shot dead. The moment one of the soldiers pointed the gun on my head, I started screaming in Bangla that my roots were in Bangladesh and my forefathers had migrated from that country. Luckily I could fluently speak in Bangladeshi. Hearing me speak in chaste Bangla, the CO had some sympathy and ordered that we be spared. They took us to the nearby post and pushed us from the border.”

Another dangerous zone for news coverage is the Red Corridors of India, which is the centre of Naxalite activity. Pradip Kumar Maitra, a senior journalists working in Hindustan Times, has been covering the Naxalite activities of Maharasthra, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh for quite sometime. Though currently he is based in Nagpur, he was also stationed at Chhattisgarh for nearly four years. He has travelled extensively in the forests of Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Bastar, Dantewada and several other Naxalite affected regions of different states. He knows the topography and the people there very well.
Talking about difficulties in covering Naxalite movements, Pradip says, “It is pretty bad. The main problems are high security risk, terrible infrastructure, absence of road and network connectivity and unavailability of proper food and shelter. The region is terribly underdeveloped and travelling in these regions is very risky because there are several places where the Naxalites have hidden landmines.

“Going in a car in Naxal-affected areas is very risky and going on foot is a near impossible job when a journalist has a deadline to meet. If you are travelling in a car, CRPF jawans often ask you for a lift. But that would mean you become a sitting duck for Naxalite ambush. There have been umpteen incidences when Naxalites have blown up cars or jeeps of police personnel. Once a passenger bus in which some policemen were travelling was targeted by Naxalites. If you refuse a lift to a policeman, you could invite trouble; but if you give them a lift, you could be inviting a calamity,” said Pradip.
He further said, “When any Naxal encounter or massacre takes place in any of the Red Corridors, your office expects you to rush instantly and come up with a story within the shortest possible time. This expectation puts tremendous stress on you because the travel agents are most reluctant to send their driver or vehicle to these risky areas. Logistics is another problem.”

He added, “For instance, when 75 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in an ambush by Naxalites in the Dantewada region of Chhattisgarh in 2010, my office asked me to rush to Dantewada immediately. I was told to leave for the region urgently and give a comprehensive report the very next day. On reaching Dantewada, I was at my wits end because the actual scene of massacre was not in Dantewada but in a small please called Singhamadgu, which is 300 km away. But I somehow managed to reach and put out a comprehensive story about the gruesome massacre.”

Added Rajib, “Most of the channels in Delhi do not have any logistical idea about these regions. They think that North East is a state and Guwahati is the capital. One thing which they do not understand is that to reach a district in a particular state, we may have to cross two states, and that makes meeting the deadline impossible. I tried my best to explain this in the past two decades, but their perception has not yet changed. I would like to cite two instances about the ignorance of my channel heads. My Editor -in-Chief of a particular channel had demanded from me that I do a walk through with ULFA CNC Paresh Baruah on the Indo-Bangladesh border with both of us in the same frame. Again, the Editor-in-Chief of another channel had asked me to interview the UPA chairperson during her visit to Manipur and ask her what was the reason behind the alienation of the people from the mainstream. He also wanted me to take a counter-interview of some secessionist leader from Manipur and file the story by the evening. Little did he have the knowledge that to meet a militant leader, I may have to travel or may be walk for days/months to reach his place. I used to get agitated when the desk asked me to get the views of the militants after any major blasts or carnage had taken place. The desk would say that in the absence of any byte from the militants, the story would not be complete and hence would be dropped.”

Another journalist Rakesh Kumar (name changed) agrees that ignorance of the newsroom bosses is a problem. For instance, he says that once his editor asked him to rush to Bastar from Nagpur in connection with a Naxalite incident and file the report urgently. “What the senior journalist was not knowing is the fact that the Bastar region is bigger than even Kerala.”

Kashmir is another conflict zone where many journalists have died on the field. Sanjay Nahar, the founder of the non-governmental organisation Sarhad, said, “In Kashmir, those are the local journalists who face the maximum problems as compared to the outstation correspondents. This is because they are watched by Pakistan’s ISI, America’s CIA and also Indian intelligence agencies and often face victimisation.” Nahar, who has authored a book on Kashmir, was a part of a peace delegation to Pakistan led by journalist Kuldeep Nayar last year. His NGO works in India’s most troubled borders.

Bilal Bhat, correspondent of Sahara Samay, who is based in Kashmir, says, “Since 1998, I have been in journalism and I have covered Kashmir extensively. It is indeed difficult to maintain a balance between the thin line where you have to be objective and cautious without going personal. Many times, I have faced near death experiences, but I think when you are in Kashmir, whether you are a journalist or not, you are anyways exposed to risks.”

The first journalist to be killed during the Kashmir insurgency was Lassa Koul. He was shot dead by unidentified men in Srinagar in 1992. His death was followed by that of ANI photojournalist Mushtaq Ali in a parcel bomb explosion on September 7, 1995. Since then, many others have lost their lives.

While it is a fact that most of the journalists who have died are in the sensitive zones of India, there are also several journalists who have died while performing their duties in non-sensitive areas.

In July 2010, Vijay Pratap Singh, a senior reporter in The Indian Express had gone to interview the Uttar Pradesh Institutional Finance Minister Nand Gopal Nandi in Alahabad. While he was conducting the interview, a bomb kept concealed in a moped outside the minister’s home exploded, injuring him seriously. After battling for nine days, he succumbed to his injuries.

In Mumbai, one of the finest crime reporters Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead by an underworld don on June 11, 2011. The shocking part is that a journalist from a leading newspaper Jigna Vora is accused of having a hand in his murder.
Although it is said that the pen is mightier than the sword, journalists who are covering news in sensitive zones of India have a very different tale to tell.