Akshay Singh’s Death Raises Questions About Vyapam Scam And The Way We Discredit The Media

Akshay Singh is the third journalist who seemed to have died in the line of duty in recent days. Before him Jagendra Singh, a freelance journalist from Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district, was allegedly set on fire for his reportage against the state dairy development minister Ram Murti Singh Verma. Similar was the fate of journalist Sandeep Kothari who was kidnapped and later burned to death, allegedly by the mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh.

Akshay was lucky to have escaped such a macabre ending. But his untimely death raises some disturbing questions not only about the Vyapam scam, but also about how we continuously discredit the work put in by thousands of journalists all over India. Journalists who go out there and do their job without fear of life or limb.

Here are the facts of the case:

– Singh, part of the elite Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the TV Today group, was investigating the Vyapam scam, a massive admission and recruitment racket that allegedly involves several top bureaucrats and politicians

– The journalist had gone to interview the parents of Namrata Damor, whose body was found near the railway tracks in Ujjain district after her name figured in the Vyapam scam.

– During the interview, Singh’s health deteriorated rapidly. According to an eyewitness, “His lips were trembling, his mouth started frothing and his hands started moving.”

– So sudden was the collapse that despite being rushed to the hospital, Akshay Singh was declared brought dead.

– Strangely his family says he had no medical illness. He used to exercise regularly, didn’t need to visit the doctor and didn’t consume alcohol or cigarettes.

– Unofficial figures peg the number of people associated with this scam, who have been “found dead” close to 40.

Madhya Pradesh police and administration are already claiming that there was no foul play in this case -– even before an independent investigation is carried out or the viscera report is prepared. The disturbing question, however, is whether there was a plan to eliminate Singh by those who are threatened by the growing media interest in the Vyapam scam? What would (or can) the media do in that case? Does the media even have the wherewithal to push back against those who attack it?

If the alleged burnings of Singh and Kothari are anything to go by – gangsters, mafia and corrupt politicians are considering journalists as easy prey. Irritants who can be swatted if too many uncomfortable are asked. Akshay’s case – even if it proves to be unnatural death – will make headlines for a few days and then he’ll add to the growing statistic of Indian reporters who died in the line of duty.

In developed nations, attacks on journalists are taken seriously, investigations are swift and action assured. While the incumbent government hasn’t really been the champion of free speech -– media houses don’t display any better a record.

Rather than working together, every channel and editor is busy cutting down the other to size. If one channel does #LalitGate the other will give a counterview; when another will want to play India’s Daughter the “rival channel” will run a campaign against its screening on-air citing “national interest”. While the channels bark and snipe at each other, the ability for the media as a whole, to bring the system to its knees, has become extinct.

After Akshay’s death, some voices have been raised to address the larger issue of journalists perishing on the field; but the Editors Guild and the Press Trust of India are busy “commissioning reports” on the issue – rather than taking stringent measures. It will have to be Editors then, who will have to aggressively follow these stories to ensure that reporters on the field don’t lose their lives in vain.

One of clearest action points in the aftermath of Akshay’s death was Barkha Dutt’s decision to follow the Vyapam scam on a daily basis.  Not only NDTV, every other channel should join in to put more pressure on the government to solve this bloody story. That’s the only way we ensure that journalists are not killed with impunity and there is some fear of law among people who are attacking media persons.

In the meantime, those in government, polity and bureaucracy should well remember that calling the media fraternity “paid” or “presstitutes” doesn’t really honor the memory of those scribes who are set on fire for only speaking the truth. And while there may be some rotten apples (just like in the army/judiciary/medical profession) media persons are the ones who are brazenly tarred with the same brush and labelled “profit seekers” or “agenda driven”. Not just the “editors”, but even the new correspondent on the city beat has to face questions on his ethics.     

Far from being “paid”, the recent spate of deaths has also shown that media as a “fourth Pillar of Democracy” is just a farce when it comes to providing journalists with financial help or bodily security because nowhere in the Constitution of India is there any provision or privilege that is reserved for the media.

Yet the news wheel has to carry on – new stories need to be brought to the limelight and uncomfortable questions need to be asked. Calling journalists #presstitutes/setting them on fire/killing them…won’t stop them -– not yet.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @akashbanerjee