10^th Anniversary of Sikkim ‘Press Freedom Day’

Keynote address by Jigme N. Kazi, President, Sikkim Federation of Working Journalists (SFWJ), State unit of Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ), on the occasion of the 1st Sikkim Press Freedom Day function organized by SFWJ in Gangtok on June 19, 2010.

(I want to share and place on record of what I said and what we did many years back on issues that are so vitally important to humanity)

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   “In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the ‘Estates General’.

The First Estate consisted of three hundred nobles. The Second Estate, three hundred clergy.

The Third Estate, six hundred commoners. Some years later, after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, “Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.” (Jeffrey Archer in “The Fourth Estate”

Sikkim Press Freedom Day, June 19, 2010.

   Respected Chief Guest, Secretary IPR, President, Press Club of Sikkim, distinguished guests, members of the Fourth Estate, and my colleagues in the Sikkim Federation of Working Journalists.

   It is our privilege and honour to have the former Chief Minister of Sikkim, Mr. B.B. Gooroong, who was not only the Press Advisor to the Chief Minister but was also a journalist once upon a time.

   When members of the local media held a protest rally to voice their concern for protection of Press Freedom in Gangtok  seventeen years ago on June 19, 1993, Mr. Gooroong came all the way down to the Paljor Stadium where we held the rally and congratulated us and gave us his support.

   Sir, you have honoured us once again and touched our hearts by being here amidst your very hectic schedule.

   If 17 years is a long time to remember what we did on this day on that day and honour those valiant journalists who risked everything to raise their voice against suppression of the freedom of press then I believe that even after 50 years the Fourth Estate in Sikkim will remember with pride and look back on this day and what we did here today.

   By being here today to mark the 1st Sikkim Press Freedom Day  celebrations we are not just honouring those who took part in the Press Freedom Rally on June 19, 1993, we are also, once again, making our stand clear on issues and principles that guide and govern the Fourth Estate all over the world.

   Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of America, once said: “If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without a free press or a free press without a government, I would prefer the latter.”

   Who wouldn’t, particularly when that government is bent on suppression of free expression, particularly of Press Freedom? Lets face it: the Press and the government are natural adversaries. Each has its own unique role in society.

   What is freedom without a free Press? And what is the Press without freedom? To be more precise; what is democracy without freedom, particularly Press freedom? Pansy Takula, one of the advocates of Press freedom and Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information of the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights, recently said,

   “We have reached the point where I think we need constructive dialogue with the government of this country, where maybe my office, together with media practitioners and media organizations and governments, can sit around a table and try and find each other.”

    She added, “Free press, in particular, and freedom of expression, in general (are) very important not only on the African continent, but everywhere else in the world because without free press you cannot have democracy.  You cannot have good governance.  You cannot have the rule of law.  You know, the media act as a watch dog against those who are in power.”

Press Rally in Gangtok, June 19, 1993.

   In Asia, in India and in Sikkim it is time that we, the media and the authorities, sit together, sort out our differences and respect each other’s role in a free and democratic set-up. When the annual World Press Freedom Day, a date to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty, was observed in May 3 last month (2010), the Fourth Estate dedicated this year’s World Press Freedom Day to the “right to know”: the right of all people, including journalists, to have access to information held by governments and other public bodies.

   The right to know is the right to ask questions to public institutions and their obligation to reply. The right to know is essential for the media and the public to enjoy true freedom of expression, protected by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since it was adopted in 1948.

    My paper, the Sikkim Observer, still has a column called “People Want to Know, People Have a Right to Know.” We must all make our own contribution towards Press Freedom no matter what kind of adverse situations we may face.

  We must believe that in a democratic system the people are sovereign. The slogan, janta rajma jantai raja, must be put into practice if we are sincere in what we profess.  In a true democracy the role of the government is to serve the people and the people have the right to know and question what is done on their behalf.

   There was an emotional ceremony at the White House recently when President Obama welcomed slain journalist Daniel Pearl’s surviving family members to witness the signing of the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act. Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was brutally murdered in Pakistan as he was following up some leads on al-Qaeda in early 2002. Four Pakistanis were convicted in Pearl’s murder in July of that year. According to the New York Times, the Freedom of the Press Act “requires the State Department to expand its scrutiny of news media restrictions and intimidation as part of its annual review of human rights in each country. Among other considerations, the department will be required to determine whether foreign governments participate in or condone violations of press freedom.”

   On this special day I would like to recall and place on record on what I said on June 19, 1993 during the Press Freedom rally held in Gangtok:

    My message was simple and direct: “Today, we are here to lodge a symbolic protest. But if our voice is not heard and if the suppression of the freedom of the Press still continues despite the stand that we have taken here today, we must not be content with mere symbolism. Me must raise a voice in every village and town in this State. We must raise our voice in Mangan, in Geyzing, and in Namchi (headquarters of the three other district of Sikkim), and if need be, in Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. We must also raise our voice in the Assembly and in the Parliament, and if need be, in other international Press forum as well. We must continue to press on until ten thousand conscious citizens in Sikkim come together and raise their voice and rally support for Freedom of the Press in Sikkim.”    

   Three days after our rally thousands of pro-democracy supporters led by Sikkim Democratic Front stormed the capital on June 22. Within less than eleven months after the rally the repressive regime in Sikkim was toppled leading to formation of a new government after the November Assembly elections in 1994.

    The local Press played a notable role in restoration of freedom, democracy, justice and rule of law in the people’s struggle for change in Sikkim.

    It is, therefore, fitting and proper that we should remember and honour those who stood their ground in times of crisis while others faltered.

    I want to thank my colleagues in the Sikkim Federation of Working Journalists and other members of the Fourth Estate for arranging this function and giving a helping hand to preserve and protect Press freedom in Sikkim.

   My final message to you comes from the words of President John F. Kennedy who said:

    “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”