by Aug 7, 2014

defence ministry I ndia Media Narendra Modi NDA Politics

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The Ministry of Defence has taken cue from the Prime Minister's Office and has decided not to take
journalists for two upcoming major events of national importance - the commissioning of INS Kolkata in
Mumbai and INS Kamorta in Vizag - later this month.
] Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AFP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be commissioning I NS Kolkata, the country's largest indigenously-built
warship touted as a technology demonstrator that will showcase India's giant leap in the shipbuilding
industry.
Defence Minister Arun J aitley will be commissioning I NS Kamorta, the first of the four indigenously-built
anti-submarine stealth corvettes that is in the works for the I ndian Navy in its bid for self-reliance.
The exact dates of the two functions are yet to be announced. However, Sitanshu Kar, chief spokesperson of
the defence ministry, indicated to this writer on Wednesday evening that both the events are likely to take
place in the third week of this month. Kar also confirmed that no journalists will be flown in from New Delhi
for the two events.
This is a huge departure by the Ministry of Defence from its unwritten, unspoken norms of decades of
taking press parties for important functions all across the country, particularly those attended by the Prime
Minister and the Defence Minister.
As the Modi government has completed 70 days in power, all ministries are silently putting in place gag
orders on journalists. This writer had written at length about why PM Modi is not taking journalists on his
foreign trips, here. Clearly, all major and sensitive ministries are following suit.
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Ministers have discreetly issued instructions to their staff to ensure that journalists should not be allowed to
roam about in the corridors, sniffing for stories. In most cases, these instructions are oral. The security staff
has been told to look very carefully for journalists' personal devices like pens and cameras as mentioned in
this dispatch by this writer here.
An insider in the defence ministry told this writer that the real intent of keeping journalists away from what
he described as junkets' was not austerity but an attempt to ensure that journalists do not snoop around
during these trips and get pally with civil and defence officials.
Significantly, when Prime Minister Modi had dedicated INS Vikramaditya to the nation in Goa on 14 J une,
the Defence Ministry had sent a large number of defence correspondents to Panaji for the event. But then
Modi was barely 20-day-old as PM and hardly had any time to tinker with the decades old procedures and
norms of the Defence Ministry.
But now Modi knows exactly what he wants - and more importantly what he does not want. Throughout his
tenure as chief minister of Gujarat he did not reach out to the media, knowing full well that he is the chief
boss of the state and the media will have to reach out to him. Therefore, he fed media what he wanted to
and thus managed to micro-manage the media.
But micro-managing media at the national level is a different ball game altogether. Here Modi is up against
not only the national media but international media too. No prime minister howsoever powerful he may be
can tame the media without adverse consequences.
An example of this was seen on 27 J uly when The New York Times carried an editorial titled "India's Press
Under Siege".
Though the NYT editorial is talking about how managements in Indian media outfits have been getting after
top journalists and does not attribute motives to the Modi government, it is a known fact that all the sacked
journalists mentioned by the newspaper were vocal critics of Modi. Nonetheless, the editorial makes a
stinging point that press censorship seems to be back with a vengeance in India.
This is the first time when a major international newspaper has raised a voice about press censorship in
India. More foreign newspapers will inevitably come up with more damning reports if the Modi government
continues with its Off limits to media attitude.
Modi is a hard task master. Those of his colleagues in the cabinet who did not know this earlier, know it by
now.
For example, he calls up ministers in their offices on their landline numbers early in the morning. Heavens
have not come down if the minister was not in his or her office when he called but the message has gone
out loud and clear to all the ministers and their staff.
I n one specific case, Modi called up one of his senior ministers on his office landline at 9 am and after not
finding him there called up at his residence. The minister, a diabetic and suffering from cardio problems,
told him that he was under medication and would be working from home.
While Modi can deal with his ministers the way he wants to and get away scot free, his policy of keeping
media away from domestic and foreign trips is increasingly being seen as an exercise in futility. Already
news stories have started appearing how miffed the ministers are. Ironically, it is the same media which
Modi wants to tame or regulate, which is bringing to light such stories.
The writer is Firstpost Consulting Editor who tweets @Kishkindha.
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