Editorial:Deliver Strong Deterrence

So, there has been another attack on a newspaper office. As a friend quipped, “SDF stones NOW! Wow!”
Jokes apart, it’s relatively obvious now that the attack was the handiwork of a renegade group of the ruling party hell bent on settling scores over a perceived slight. The root cause behind their ire has been explained elsewhere in this edition and is too absurd to require another repetition. Suffice to say that physical attacks on the media cannot be argued on scales of absurdity or relevance and need to be unanimously condemned. Shooting the messenger is an unhealthy trend because once this Laxman-Rekha is crossed, then the violence can extend even more easily to other sectors [beyond the party clash episodes], which is why the attack on the NOW! office was so passionately protested by media-persons across the board, not only from Sikkim but outside as well. An attack on one newspaper office is also a sign that even others can be visited with similar violence, which is why the impromptu rally by working journalists in Gangtok on Thursday was so vigorously participated. Having to report from the field, and their jobs requiring them to interact with many people, some of whom might be holding grouses against them or their paper, they fall in the frontline of the receiving end should more sections gather courage to vent their frustrations on the Press.
What also needs to be accepted is that there can be no guarantees of safety. Accepted. But what can be guaranteed, and what should be ensured, is that when an incident does transpire, no efforts are spared to book the guilty and fix accountability because only such public actions can deter future repeats. The perpetrators of the latest incident, even if it were accepted that they worked on their own, drew courage from the precedence they have seen of their political bosses intervening on behalf of party workers who have embarked on similar adventures in the past. If anyone is serious about ensuring a safe working environment for the fourth estate, this cycle will have to be snapped. And this should not be difficult because individuals draping the party colours to attack the press are almost always settling only personal scores, never serving any party’s interest; and at what cost. In the present instance for example, the attack came at a time when the State Government was hosting the Chairperson of the Press Council of India and executive members of the Indian Journalists Union in collaboration with the Press Club of Sikkim. This was an obvious effort towards winning the favour of the media. One rash act, and the goodwill has been squandered. Even without such fallouts, it is important that a clear signal is sent out by all parties that the party cushion which emboldens intentions of violence into action is not available anymore. The SDF appears set to cast away those involved in the Wednesday night attack, and even officially accepting the accused as its cadre is a significant first. If it can also ensure that the concerned in-charge, which would be the area MLA, owns up moral responsibility for the incident, it will be establishing a strong deterrent at least for its own ranks. Now to see what its next step will be…