Attack on Siddharth Varadarajan: Why the EC must investigate

“Four thugs recently beat up the caretaker of my flat in Delhi. The incident took place near our home, with the thugs saying, ‘Tell your sahib to watch what he says on TV.’ They also issued a threat to my wife, Prof Nandini Sundar, about her Chhattisgarh case. We don’t know who they are, but it’s clearly aimed to intimidate. The caretaker is recovering. While the police have been helpful and are reviewing neighborhood CCTV footage, I am making this incident public on the advice of friends who believe it may serve some deterrent value,” Siddharth Varadarajan, former editor of The Hindu, posted on his Facebook page. (You can learn more about Varadarajan here). Varadarajan’s caretaker being beaten up for something he said on TV is shocking. His situation is made worse by the fact that he has no way to figure out who he has offended and when. “I have no idea what they took offence too, since I’m on virtually every day,” said an update on Twitter. [caption id=“attachment_1422127” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The attack on Varadrajan cannot be ignored[/caption] If the caretaker being beaten up were not enough, Varadarajan is now being targeted and bullied on twitter and Facebook as well. You can see his Twitter feed here. In the run-up to the elections, India’s newly discovered lack of acceptance and complete intolerance of divergent views is reaching astronomical proportions. This is the first physical attack on a reputed journalist – but non-physical attacks on social media and in the comments section of digital outlets has been growing ignored and unchecked for a few years now. The problem is that those with the power to keep such attacks from occurring have done little to demonstrate that they care. Just this morning, Mid-Day carried a story which said that “scores of online criminals continue to harass celebrities, but it looks like the cyber cell is still not equipped to bring the perpetrators to book.” It is when crimes are committed with impunity in the confidence that the law doesn’t care, that things come to a head as has happened in the case of Varadarajan. One hopes that the police who are investigating the case do so with diligence and bring the guilty to book – but there is someone else who can come to his aid. It’s completely within the ambit of the Election Commission to look at this incident, coming as it does immediately after the model code of conduct. It is the timing that suggests that Varadarajan’s attack is spurred by a comment of one or other political party or personage. Let the EC order an investigation immediately. If this attack is ignored, it can become much more than an attack on Varadarajan – it could quickly snowball into an attack on all journalists and the entire news media. This is perhaps the most important general election for India. The stakes are high and the voter confused. Voters need to access news, information, opinion and analyses from all quarters so that they can finally make an informed and confident decision on their choice of candidate. The Election Commission has underlined its responsibility to create an atmosphere where voters can cast their votes without fear. They EC also needs to ensure that a multiplicity of opinion writers can write without fear to ensure a free and fair election.