Press Freedom in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2024 commemorating the 100 years of the Hindustan Times must be analysed in a broader perspective. The Prime Minister has underlined many issues that have influenced nation building  during the freedom struggle and after independence. Newspapers have played a pivotal role in shaping the national discourse leading to the path that we are witnessing now. The Prime Minister has urged the people to visit the exhibition depicting the archives of the Hindustan Times to internalise the sacrifices made by the stalwarts. It goes to the credit of the Indian press that in spite of the colonial onslaught indigenous journalism could rise to the occasion and carve a niche for itself. The Indian press made its mark and emerged as the authentic voice of the nation when the colonial press was also present and was posing a challenge in terms of its resources. Press freedom in India is interrelated to the freedom of the nation from the colonial role. Today this can be reflected in the wide presence of media in various languages at regional level. Newspapers are being published in almost all languages of India. Growth of the Indian press has not been confined to just the English language newspapers but the publication of the vernacular newspapers has grown simultaneously. This gives immense opportunity to the diverse opinions to be heard and allows the policy makers to factor in the issues that have not been addressed. Even after the independence newspapers have faced immense challenges. The worst being the era of emergency when press freedom was curtailed. It did not deter the journalists from speaking the truth and asserting themselves. Press came out victorious and proved more powerful than ever. Jammu and Kashmir too has not stood at the fence. It has also contributed to the pool of journalism and invested heavily in press freedom. More than 35 years of turbulence has not stopped the newspapers and the journalists from performing their duty of reporting the truth and facts to uphold democracy in spite of the tremendous threat to their lives. Be it the vernacular press, Urdu dailies or the English dailies, Jammu and Kashmir has been in the forefront of upholding the ideals of truthful and professional journalism. Time has come to take this to new levels of excellence and produce journalists of high calibre who emerge as the opinion makers and contribute to make Jammu and Kashmir a pivot of national resurgence. The words echoed by the Prime Minister at the Hindustan Times Summit apply to all newspapers that have stood the test of the times. The Rising Kashmir has been focussing on the quality journalism that defines the welfare of the masses. Its editorial policy is to shape the narrative building of peace and harmony that allows the contemporary generation to internalise the mantra of development in totality. The Rising Kashmir is grooming a generation of professional journalists that can do capacity building for the long term. It wants the people to inculcate language proficiency and develop a taste of quality newspaper reading. That includes the editorials meant to influence policy making and news meant to put the people’s issues in proper perspective. We urge our readers to be partners in this professional journey as the Rising Kashmir values its readers in totality.