Agartala: Journalists in Tripura have been protesting for over two weeks, demanding an apology from Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for issuing a “threat” against the media last month for their Covid coverage.
At a function held in south Tripura’s Sabroom on 11 September, Deb, who also holds the health portfolio, said he shall not “forgive” a section of the “overexcited media for misleading the people of Tripura on the pandemic situation”.
“History shall not forgive them. And I shall not forgive them. I am a man of my word,” he added.
A day after this statement, two journalists were allegedly attacked in two different parts of the state. One of them had earlier conducted a Facebook Live in which he criticised the CM for his remarks.
Police in the state have booked FIRs in both cases but none of the assailants has been identified so far.
On his part, Deb clarified on 16 September that he “didn’t intend to hurt anyone in my speech at Sabroom”. “I am committed to safeguard the interests of the people of Tripura, keep them safe and healthy,” he added, speaking to the media.
But journalists in the state have made it clear that they will settle for nothing less than a public apology.
On 19 September, the Tripura Assembly of Journalists, a body representing the local media community, submitted a memorandum to Governor Ramesh Bais and sought his intervention. Meanwhile, the demonstrations continue, with the journalists wearing black badges and masks to express their anger.
ThePrint tried to reach Deb for a comment on the matter, but calls to his personal number went unanswered.
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Covid response questioned
Deb’s diatribe against the media followed reports alleging that his government has mismanaged the Covid pandemic in the state — reports that the Tripura High Court also reportedly took note of during a hearing last month.
Among other things, Tripura’s Covid response came under the scanner last month over reports that sought to highlight the lack of infrastructure and staff at Tripura’s only dedicated coronavirus facility, the GB Pant Hospital in Agartala. As of 27 September, the state also had the highest Covid fatality rate in the Northeast.
“Administrative inefficiency in healthcare” is also believed to have been among the reasons why eight MLAs of the BJP, Deb’s party, visited Delhi earlier this month to demand his ouster.
According to the bulletin issued by the Tripura health directorate, the state had conducted 4,28,978 Covid tests by Saturday, of which 29,327 had returned a positive diagnosis. Over 89 per cent of the state’s Covid-19 patients, or 26,199, had recovered by Saturday, with the state registering 326 deaths.
Following Deb’s remarks against the media, a local journalist named Parashar Biswas of Ambassa, Dhalai, went live on Facebook and said, “If the CM continues making such remarks, I shall carry on criticising him on Facebook and other social platforms because he has hurt the profession that earns my livelihood. The BJP may rule for more than 15 years, but his (Biplab Deb’s) days in power are numbered.”
He was then allegedly assaulted by unidentified men on 12 September. The same day, another journalist named Ashok Dasgupta of Belonia subdivision in south Tripura was allegedly manhandled by unidentified residents while out on duty.
The police has filed FIRs in both cases, and highly placed sources in the state force told ThePrint that investigations are under way.
Veteran journalist Jayanta Bhattacharya said the “CM’s remarks against the media community are an insult”. “It is our duty to expose the truth, which we are discharging. So who is he to forgive us?”
He denied their protest had anything to do with that of the MLAs. “The MLAs are perhaps frustrated because of the CM’s mismanagement and mishandling of the administration. But the MLAs’ Delhi visit should not in any way be connected with the journalists’ movement,” he added,
One of the dissident MLAs offered a similar statement on the condition of anonymity. “Our Delhi movement was due to organisational issues. The journalists are fighting for their rights. The two campaigns happening at the same time is a mere coincidence.”
Subal Kumar Dey, veteran editor and chairman of the Tripura Assembly of Journalists, said the protest will continue “till the CM apologises to us in public”.
The tensions in the media’s ties with the Deb government mark a far cry from the time he assumed office in the state two years ago, at the helm of the state’s first BJP government. During the campaign, one of the BJP’s main promises was a CBI probe into the death of two journalists in the state — in September and November 2017 — which had fuelled concerns in Tripura’s media community and beyond.
The BJP came to power on 3 March 2018 and Deb began the legal process for instituting a CBI probe within his first week in office. The CBI took over the probe in June 2018.
Also Read: 8 Tripura BJP MLAs in Delhi to seek CM Biplab Deb’s ouster, say he has become ‘unpopular’
Where is the ‘threat’? He expressed his point of view. Doesn’t he have a right? What kind of intolerance is this?