Earlier, Congress was called anti-national for vow to scrap sedition law & AFSPA Act by some journalists who now change their stance, for BJP.
In 2019, Congress in its manifesto promises to amend AFSPA, and scrap the sedition law if voted to power, and pro-BJP journalists actually called Congress “Pakistani supporters” and anti-national for wanting to scrap the law. However, journalists like Aman Chopra are being called hypocrites because right after BJP announced they may scrap the law, they called the sedition law an old colonial English law, and applauded BJP for wanting to remove it. The quick turnaround is almost shameless to say the least.
Mohammed Zubair, fact-checker, co-founder of Alt News mocked Aman Chopra and asked him “How do you do all this @AmanChopra?” sharing an old video clip of the swift change in stance in Aman Chopra.
कैसे कर लेते हो ये सब @AmanChopra_ 👏👏pic.twitter.com/hgg9hpmlaJ
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 12, 2022
Congress in their 2019 manifesto stated they would remove the AFSPA Act. The AFSPA Act is applicable in Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur, and some parts of the northeastern states. According to The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976, an area that is once declared ‘disturbed’ has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of three months.
Under AFSPA, the armed forces are given powers to arrest, use force, and even open fire on anyone who disobeys the law. Human rights activists wanted the act discarded, arguing the law gives “sweeping powers” to forces to act against civilians. Activists have also alleged extra-judicial killings in those areas where AFSPA is in force.
Congress also pledged to remove the law on sedition from the statute if voted to power. “Omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code(that defines the offense of ‘sedition’) that has been misused and, in any event, has become redundant because of subsequent laws,” the manifesto said. The sedition law hit headlines in 2016 when Delhi’s JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was slapped with charges over allegations that he supported ‘anti-India’ slogans on the campus.
The sudden turnaround by certain pro-BJP journalists in their views actually reveals there is no belief system they follow with no code of ethics, which is why journalism is a dying art in India. In fact, when journalists are telling the truth, they are almost accused and told to sit down quietly and “respect” the government.
The skill of journalism is to stir up questions in the reader and viewers’ minds to prevent a government from becoming an arbitrary dictatorship. The greatest danger in journalism is working in favor of one party wherein their faults are concealed and the lie is made the truth and the truth a lie which wherein one stormy night, the ship will crash into rocks for there is no lighthouse to show the way.