Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh — established by Diler Khan and Bahadur Khan, sons of a soldier in the army of Mughal Emperor Jahangir — is not the sort of place which instantly comes to mind when one thinks of the power of social media. But the life and death of journalist Jagendra Singh shows, yet again, that appearances can be deceptive, that social media packs a punch even in parts of the country reeling from power outages. It also poignantly illustrates the tragedy that can strike social media’s brave torchbearers who live and work in swathes of the country not used to being in the limelight.
Singh was not a celebrity journalist. But his small town credentials did not prevent him from being as “connected” as any savvy city slicker. From his perch in Shahjahanpur, Singh provided first-hand, searing accounts and images of issues which critically impacted his community — crime, corruption, injustice, exploitation of the weak and vulnerable by politicians in cahoots with criminals.
His media of choice were primarily two Facebook profiles — Jagendra Singh and “Shahjahanpur Samachar” — which reached more than 5,000 friends and followers. Inevitably, his posts angered the powerful and their henchmen, including leading lights of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. Singh was accused of levelling unsubstantiated char-ges.
Most disturbingly, the accusations did not remain in the realm of words. Singh paid for his daring journalism with his life. As everyone has read or heard by now, he was allegedly set on fire by policemen on June 1 during a raid at his house. Within a week, Singh succumbed to his injuries in a Lucknow hospital.
As horrific images of the journalist’s scalded body appeared in the media, Singh poignantly said in his last statement from his hospital bed, “Why did they have to burn me? If the minister and his goons had a grudge, they could have beaten me instead of pouring kerosene and burning me.”
Singh’s family, currently on a hunger strike in Lucknow, has held Ram Murti Singh Verma, Uttar Pradesh minister for dairy development, allegedly responsible for his death. The relatives have also alleged police collusion. As a motive, they point to the “Shahjahanpur Samachar” Facebook page of the journalist, which reportedly angered many powerful people.
The local police, in the eye of the storm, claim that Jagendra Singh set himself on fire. But the video clip that shows Singh’s scalded body has audio that strengthens the family’s claim that the attack was linked to his reports about the alleged involvement of an Uttar Pradesh minister in a string of nefarious crimes including illegal mining and land-grabs.
At the time of writing, the state police have lodged a first information report (FIR) against Mr Verma and five police officers. The five cops have been suspended. Mr Verma remains unscathed, and as recently as this Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ruled out any imminent action against him. In response to a public interest litigation, the Allahabad high court directed the state government on Tuesday to file a status report within a week.
Despite all the uproar, two weeks after the barbaric incident, there is no sign that a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the brutal killing is under way or even under consideration. Bizarrely, another Uttar Pradesh minister has described the savagery in Shahjahanpur as a “law of nature”.
Why is an independent probe into the incident so important? The short answer: because there are so few in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in the country who are prepared to stake their lives and livelihoods to tell the story of the struggle of the powerless against the corrupt and the criminal. And because Singh’s death points to a troubling trend of savage attacks on journalists and others who seek to expose the inconvenient truth.
In 2013, the media reported the killing of four journalists in a span of 45 days in Uttar Pradesh. When a missing journalist’s body was found in a gunny bag in Bulandshahr, it was the fourth incident of a journalist being killed that year. Just a few days before that, a reporter of a local Hindi daily had been shot dead in Etawah — the home town of Akhilesh Yadav. Before that similar incidents were reported from Banda and Lakhimpur Kheri.
Journalists working in districts and small towns, work under very difficult conditions and immense pressure, often without the resources and support that their big city counterparts take for granted. Now, it is clear that the honest journalist doing his job and investigating issues of public concern is fast becoming an endangered species. The public has a right to know what has happened to investigations into the killings of those courageous enough to chase the truth.
Journalists are not the only people at serious risk. Right to information (RTI) activists who seek to ferret out vital information in the public interest are also being targeted. Last week, one RTI activist was brutally beaten up, allegedly by the pradhan of Gaura village in Bahraich district, also in Uttar Pradesh. Guruprasad Shukla died of his injuries in the district hospital on Saturday. He was reportedly abducted from his house and beaten up by the village pradhan and his henchmen for having dared to seek information on the use of development funds in the village.
The accused has been arrested. But the pall of fear is spreading. A legal activist in Lucknow told this writer that the attacks on the journalists and RTI activists were clearly meant to deter further exposes, especially about alleged misuse of development funds. Arguably, Uttar Pradesh is not the only state where journalists and RTI activists are at risk or have been attacked. But the frequency with which this is happening should worry Mr Yadav as he tries to re-brand his state.
No civilised society remains silent for long in the face of such attacks and such brazen contempt for the rule of law. The issue is not only about human rights. It is also about development and the economy. If Uttar Pradesh intends to develop, to attract investment and tourists, it has no choice but to dramatically improve its law and order. That will not happen as long as lawmakers and law-enforcers are perceived to be contributing to Uttar Pradesh’s terrible reputation of lawlessness.
The writer focuses on development issues in India and emerging economies. She can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com
