'India bribes newsmen to write against Nepal
By Special SAT Report
Aug 6, 2005, 13:23
http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_20662.shtml Indian intelligence agencies are harassing Arun Rajnath (Left) , the
Special Correspondent of South Asia Tribune in New Delhi after failing
to persuade him to stop writing what these agencies describe as
stories against the national security of India.
Rajnath, who has been reporting for the SAT for almost two years has
also been refused accreditation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
because MEA officials say he writes against their advice and against
the national interest.
The harassment of Rajnath in New Delhi comes shortly after Pakistan
Government had placed the South Asia Tribune Editor, Shaheen Sehbai,
on the infamous Exit Control List which prohibits Pakistani citizens
to leave the country. Sehbai is in Washington but if he enters
Pakistan, he will not be allowed to leave the country.
Arun Rajnath reported the harassment he was facing to the Editor of
his newspaper in Washington after intimidating telephone calls from
intelligence operatives became so frequent they became a nuisance.
SAT Editor Shaheen Sehbai strongly condemned the harassment and in a
statement said it was even more deplorable as India claimed to be a
democratic country where the Press was supposed to be totally free.
Sehbai urged all the international media watchdog organizations to
take immediate note of the harassment of Rajnath as well as denial of
accreditation because it exposed the real situation in which no
journalist could report objectively without facing the wrath of the
Indian Establishment.
Arun Rajnath has been receiving crank calls and threatening E-mails by
a person who calls himself Asif Nadeem. This person claims to be from
a security agency. When Rajnath refused to concede his demands to
propagate Government's views in the South Asia Tribune, he was
threatened to face the consequences.
On the other hand, the Publicity Division of the Ministry of External
Affairs has directed the Press Information Bureau not to issue a
Press-accreditation to Arun Rajnath, as it was not in the national
interest of India.
According to Rajnath, the person who identifies himself as Asif Nadeem
first called him up on his home telephone number on the morning of
June 21, 2005, and claimed to be speaking from the Media Cell of the
Home Ministry. Nadeem said that he wanted to see Rajnath.
Arun invited him to a crowded Coffee Shop in Cannaught Place, the
heart of Delhi. Asif Nadeem came wearing the dark blue shirt and
off-white pants which he had said he would be wearing for
identification.
Nadeem first tried to bribe Rajnath and offered to pay Rs10,000 per
month for writing one story per month against Pakistan or Bangladesh
or Nepal or Hurriyat Conference or Naxalites or any one else suggested
by the security agencies.
Nadeem claimed that many top journalists covering External, Home and
Defense Ministries were on the payroll of security agencies or the
concerned ministries and they received handsome compensation packages
which Arun could also get after proving his worth.
He also promised that he would help Rajnath in getting clearances for
his press accreditation card and would get his name included in the
list of journalists who always accompany the Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister on their international tours.
Nadeem asked Arun not to write `damaging stories' on the Defense
sector and Kashmir that `tarnish' the image of India at international
forums. He had a complete list with him on Arun's defense stories that
he claimed were `objectionable' and `anti-national' from the
administration's point of view.
Asif had grievous objections particularly to the following three stories:
1. "India Sending Thousands of Commandos to Kashmir in Changed
Strategy" published on November 18, 2004,
2. "Indian Army Faces Embarrassment After Fake Militants Surrender
Scam", published on December 05, 2004, and 3. "The Blatant Kashmir
Discrimination Against Militants' Widows", published on January 02,
2005.
He told Rajnath: "Though these stories may be true, when they are
published in the international media, they cause ripples and tarnish
the image of India. Such is the impact of the international media,
particularly web newspapers. You should be cautious in your approach.
We will pay you for your assistance. We can also pay you for not
writing such stories if you do not agree to propagate our viewpoint.
Why don't you write only political stories?"
Arun Rajnath firmly but politely declined all the offers and urged
Nadeem not to contact him again as he was not interested in his
proposals. Nadeem was quiet for a time but the situation took an ugly
turn when the following two stories were published in the SAT:
1. "Tamil Tigers Training Nepalese Rebels: An Interview Revealing
All", published on July 8, 2005, and
2. "Maoist Working Hard to Carve Out Their Own Country", published on
July 24, 2005.
Nadeem started calling Rajnath desperately and repeatedly asked him to
disclose the source of his story about the Maoists. He also threatened
him to either work for the security agencies, like other journalists
and pass on the information to the agencies, or be ready to face the
consequences.
These phone calls were made from the numbers 9868303885, 9891367900
and 26687984. In one such conversation Nadeem said: "Mr. Arun you
would have been arrested by now had the POTA not been abolished. But
it does not mean that you are free to write anti-national stories in a
Pakistani newspaper."
It is noteworthy that the Vajpayee government had imposed the infamous
Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in which there has been a provision
that the journalists could be detained if they had any prior
information of any act of terrorism or terrorist organizations.
Journalists had to intimate the security agencies about their sources.
But due to the pressure from the Left parties, the act has been
abolished.
While the intelligence agencies are harassing Rajnath, his application
for Press accreditation has been pending for months as the Foreign
Ministry officials think Rajnath had exposed the Indian policy on
Nepal for what it was worth.
The officials of the Foreign Ministry have declared him "dangerous for
national security" and "he must not get the press accreditation as he
would get access to all ministries including Defense, Foreign and
Home, Prime Minister's Office and other sensitive departments."
The Police Verification conducted by the Press Information Bureau
following Rajnath's application for a Press card has been clean and
the file of accreditation has been sent to the Press Relations,
Publicity Division, Ministry of External Affairs for its comments and
recommendations because Arun Rajnath works for a foreign newspaper.
Despite fulfilling all conditions and a positive report from the local
police, Arun's file was not put up before the Accreditation Committee
in June, because the MEA had not returned the file by then. In
February this year the Foreign Ministry had issued a special statement
against Rajnath in a bid to discredit him and his reports. Click to
View MEA Statement
After darting off many letters and reminders to the Principal
Information Officer, Press Information Bureau (PIB), Arun received a
letter from Anupma V. Chandra, Information Officer (Press Facility)
dated July 18, 2005 (No. F. 1/7208-PRS) in which she admitted: "Your
case is pending for want of comments/recommendations from Ministry of
External Affairs on the status of South Asia Tribune, USA. Min. of
External Affairs was requested for comments vide this Bureau's letter
dated 14.3.2005 and a reminder dated 11.5.2005. Another reminder is
also being sent."
The PIB sent the letter to Ishwar Prasad Teki, Publicity Officer,
Press Relations, Ministry of External Affairs for comments. This
department comes under direct control of the Joint Secretary, External
Publicity Division, MEA. Navtej Sarna is the boss who happens to be
the Joint Secretary and Official Spokesperson, as well.
As a matter of fact, the Publicity Division has directed Ishwar Prasad
Teki not to clear the file. At present the MEA is not getting any
concrete ground to reject the file, therefore the officials are
holding it without taking any decision. They want to delay the process
as the Accreditation Committee of the PIB meets only twice in the year
to consider the cases of accreditation. It had already met in the
month of June, and it would now meet in December.
According to the sources of the PIB and Foreign Ministry, the
Publicity Division (MEA) and Home Ministry have already sounded the
authorities of the PIB not to give accreditation to Arun Rajnath
because "he works for a Pakistani newspaper, and his write-ups are
irresponsible and not in the line of national interest."
"He could be dangerous to the national security if he gets
accreditation as then he would be entitled to visit all ministries,
government offices, sensitive places, Prime Minister's Office,
President House, etc."
Rajnath's battle to receive fair treatment continues.
(c) Copyright 2003 by The New Nation
