Jaipur: Upping the ante against the Vasundhara Raje government, leading Hindi daily Rajasthan Patrika on Thursday left its editorial blank, with a thick black border, to register its strong opposition to the controversial criminal law ordinance that puts restrictions on the media and gives protection to public servants.
The newspaper headquartered in Jaipur, which has already announced its boycott of Chief Minister Raje, decided to leave the editorial blank on the National Press Day which is observed as a symbol of a free and responsible press in the country.
The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, promulgated on September 6, has provided immunity to the serving and retired public servants, judges and magistrates from probe and prosecution on the complaints about their alleged offences without prior sanction by the authorities. It also bars the media from reporting on such accusations till the sanction is given.
Protesting against the sweeping powers given to the authorities to gag the media, Rajasthan Patrika Editor-in-Chief Gulab Kothari wrote in the blank editorial’s headline that the “black law” had put journalism in danger. “With this [blank editorial], we studiously oppose the law which has murdered democracy,” he stated.
Since November 1 when it announced Ms. Raje’s boycott in a scathing front page editorial, the Hindi daily has been publishing an eye-catching “lock”, titled Jab Tak Kaala, Tab Tak Taala (It is locked till the black law is in force), on the front page everyday. The “lock” says the issue involves democracy, freedom of expression and supremacy of people’s voice.
The editorial staff looking after the edit page in Rajasthan Patrika said the blank editorial’s thick black border was meant to convey the newspaper’s resolve to oppose the ordinance and protect the freedom of press. Besides, opinion pieces, readers’ letters and articles on the issue are being regularly carried.
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