An Appeal
By BB Nagpal
As a retired journalist, I have become used to contacts through either WhatsApp or through Facebook and always found solace by learning about my friends or other media persons.
But I never thought a day would come when I would be terrified of opening Facebook or WhatsApp. At present, I dread opening these sites for fear of learning which other friend I have lost to the dreaded Corona Virus (Covid 19 or now Covid 21?).
When Covid first hit the country early in 2020, I was full of admiration for the journalists who bravely faced risks to do their job of being on the beat and sometimes wearing a mask and reporting about the Covid situation. But for those in the NCR Delhi, the situation appeared to be controllable until the Tablighi Jamaat meet in April 2020 took even the governments in the city and the centre by surprise.
Initially hit hard, the state government acted fast and within about two months appeared to be leading the nation in controlling the spread of the virus, thanks to the Lockdown.
When reports began appearing about vaccines being manufactured within the country by Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute, the Central Government announced that these would first be given to doctors, nurses, frontline workers including volunteers in hospitals, police, and media persons.
Unfortunately, the governments conveniently forgot media persons while concentrating on medical personnel.
Also read: India lost over 50 journalists within a fortnight
Tomorrow is May 3 which is also marked as World Press Freedom Day. Officially, Press Freedom came in a left-handed manner when Article 19(1)(a) was introduced in the Constitution but has only been used in legal judgments and Press Freedom is more sinned against than sinning as periods like the National Emergency showed.
But as a media person of over fifty years standing, I am constrained to mention this for various reasons. It is surprising that just yesterday, the Odisha Government became the first to announce that Journalists would be treated as Frontline Covid Warriors, claiming to benefit 6944 Working Journalists.
Clearly a case of too little too late, particularly no other State Government or the Centre cared to do so despite pushing hundreds of media persons into covering the recent state election rallies and the Kumbh Mela. Whether both the state elections or the Kumbh Mela this year and the Tablaghi Jamaat could have been postponed is a matter for Constitutional experts or religious leaders to decide.
But the objective of this opinion piece is meant as a tribute to the scores of media persons who have lost their lives to the dreaded virus. The objective is not to name the journalists as the list is far too large and not many have cared to compile a list of those we lost in the line of duty!
When the nation was called out last year on their balconies to clap their hands or bang utensils as a mark of respect to frontline Covid warriors, why can media persons and the nation as a whole not be called out on World Press Freedom Day to just light a candle outside their homes or balconies at 8 pm tomorrow night as a token of mourning and a tribute to the media men and women who risked and lost their lives while attempting to provide us with useful information?
*A journalist with over 52 years of writing experience, B. B. Nagpal has acquired a reputation as a news journalist and film critic of eminence. Retiring from United News of India as its Chief of Bureau in November 2005 after a service of more than 36 and a half years, he was chosen to as founder Chief Editor of the Lok Sabha TV channel in 2006, and later was Consulting Editor of indiantelevision.com for more than a decade. He has also served on several juries, including two times as a member of the Indian Panorama Selection Committee and once on the jury of the National Television – Doordarshan – awards, apart from being a jury member of Indian Documentary Producers Association, the Jaipur International Film Festival, the Indian Documentary Producers Association, the WeCare Filmfest, and the Preview Committee of the Jagran Film Festival.
