By Hassan Cheruppa
JEDDAH — Media persons in Kerala are fighting tooth and nail for their constitutional right to freedom of expression and discharge their duties fearlessly following a media ban in courts, according to P.A. Abdul Gafoor, president of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ).
Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Abdul Gafoor, who is on a visit to the Kingdom to perform Umrah, said the media community in the state is expecting a favorable verdict from the Supreme Court, which is hearing the case, in the near future.
The KUWJ approached the court, seeking to quash the media ban in courts of Kerala and to reopen the press gallery in Kochi High Court.
Abdul Gafoor said the restriction on reporting court proceedings was a clear violation of people’s fundamental right to information.
He said the five-month standoff between the lawyers’ fraternity and the media people in the state started in July following the implication of a public prosecutor in a molestation case and the lawyers came to his defense and rescue. Furious over the report, lawyers manhandled the reporter of the newspaper that published the news. Subsequently, media persons came under attack on the High Court premises. Attacks against media persons took place in district courts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Alappuzha and Mavelikkara. Even women journalists, including those with special needs, were targeted.
The KUWJ chief said the union took up the matter with the Supreme Court and the Press Council of India. Its representatives met with Indian president, chief justice of India, Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam, who is also a former chief justice of India, Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala, and other prominent figures to get justice.
A delegation of the Indian Newspaper Society, which groups owners of media organizations, also met with the president seeking his intervention. Kapil Sibal, eminent Indian lawyer, constitutional expert and former federal minister, is appearing for the journalists. “Even though the High Court considered the issue on its own, no hearing took place in the court and hence we approached the country’s highest court, demanding to create a conducive environment for journalists to work freely and safely amid growing incidents of hooliganism by a section of lawyers on court premises as well as to restore status quo by reopening the media room in Kochi High Court,” he said while noting that only a small section of the lawyers are up in arms against journalists.
Abdul Gafoor said there are around 3,000 members in KUWJ, which is the only organization of working journalists representing both print and visual media in the state. He disclosed plans to open the first overseas unit of the union in Dubai shortly. The union has also units in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. “The Dubai unit will most probably be launched either during my visit to Dubai this week, or next month. All privileges and facilities, enjoyed by KUWJ members, including government accreditation and pension benefits will be enjoyed by members of the overseas unit,” he said while applauding the role of expatriates in promoting and supporting the media back home to maintain its brilliant track record.
According to Abdul Gafoor, there are more than 50 newspapers and over 30 television channels in the state. Two of them — Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi — are in the list of top 10 newspapers in India with a circulation of 2.3 million and 1.4 million respectively.
Reporters of Malayalam News, the first Malayalam language daily published from outside India and run by an Arab management, are also members and office bearers of the union, said Abdul Gafoor, who is the news editor of Madhyamam, which boasts a total of 18 editions including nine in the GCC states.
He said journalists are facing problems of job insecurity. “Many media managements, including leading newspapers, started a process of hiring new staff on contract basis, posing a big threat to the profession. This insecurity and decrease in pay and perks might lead to media persons to compromise on professional ethics,” he said.
Abdul Gafoor said the district committees of KUWJ in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Kottayam, apart from the Media Academy of Kochi, conduct journalism and multimedia courses to bring out a new generation of professional journalists.
Abdul Gafoor, who is accompanied by wife and children, attended a reception hosted by the Jeddah Indian Media Forum on Sunday.
