When Media Turns Yellow

 Pradeep Biswal

My bonhomie with the media is very old. But in spite of having a good relationship with the press, I always remained at the receiving end. To be honest, I was treated badly for no apparent reason. My first encounter with the media happened in very peculiar circumstances, in the early eighties. Then I was pursuing my post-graduation in the University.

A very young chap of our locality started publishing a fortnightly newspaper and published my name as the Chief Editor although I was remotely associated with its publication. The chap was a committed social worker and a champion of the deprived class. Once he published a news item about a Dalit woman being maltreated by a local politician belonging to the ruling party and the apathy of the local police in taking action in the case. A few days later, the boy in his teens died in a mysterious circumstance. I was shocked to learn about his sad demise.

More surprises were waiting for me. Three-four days after the incident a leading newspaper then opposed to the ruling party published a news item alleging that the boy has been murdered at the behest of the ruling party for the publication of the news against one of their party men. Immediately the local leader of the ruling party issued a statement denying the role of their party in the entire episode. But the newspaper published the statement with a rejoinder that they have sufficient material with them to corroborate the fact.

At that time, the infamous Chhabirani murder case was being highlighted against the party in power where a woman journalist was allegedly raped and murdered. Another newspaper termed this episode as the second such incident and carried the story on the front page. Things started taking an ugly turn. The state assembly was in session and the opposition demanded a crime branch enquiry. To get out of the mess, the Chief Minister announced on the floor of the Assembly a crime branch inquiry into the incident.

Once the Government ordered for the crime branch inquiry, the crime branch sleuths arrived at the spot and interrogated the parents of the deceased. They collected the bone samples of the deceased from the cremation ground for forensic tests. Finally, they landed at our house to interrogate me. I was then absent but was kept informed about the incident. As I gathered, the boy was in love with a girl and committed suicide for some misunderstanding between them. But few local journalists and politicians made it an issue to settle scores with the ruling party. I was then going through a very tough time since there was apprehension that the crime branch may try to frame me on some pretext.

I had good contact with Dr Harekrushna Mahatab. I wrote him a long letter narrating the entire episode and how the innocent parents of the deceased were being tormented by the police for no fault of their own. Dr Mahatab wrote a piece in his weekly column ‘Gaon Majlish’ Highlighting the plight of the poor innocent parents and decrying politicising the incident for political vendetta. Fortunately, the crime branch enquiry could not bring out any evidence of murder in the case and the case was closed. I was thus saved from embarrassment.

I was again put to such a situation a few years back at the fag end of my unblemished career  for a similar situation when a section of the media cooked up a story to defame the Government on the basis of a letter issued from my office seeking a routine clarification from another office to regularise an expenditure. A mountain was made out of a molehill. It figured in the national media also.  I found myself in the duck and had to undergo sleepless nights. Some of my detractors took this opportunity to defame me and see me penalised. Fortunately, my seniors defended my action and the Government took a rational view of the incident. I was saved again by the grace of God and good wishes of my well wishers.

The Story is the Tenth in a series of articles.

(Mr. Pradeep Biswal is a bilingual poet writing both in Odia and English. His poems are widely anthologized. He is also an editor and translator of repute. A retired IAS Officer, Mr. Biswal presently holds the position of Member, Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority and stays with his family at Bhubaneswar. Views are Personal)