[WSMDiscuss] India in movement…., Publishing in movement…, Freedoms in movement… : Fwd: [Debate-List] (Fwd) Threat to India's valuable periodical Economic & Political Weekly

Mon Jul 24 19:38:04 CEST 2017

I am inclined to agree, with some caveats. EPW / Sameeksha Trust seems 
to have made some questionable decisions and the real problem here seems 
to be the SLAPP lawsuits and power abuse by money. We could have wished 
for Sameeksha Trust to show more guts and resolve, but they chose to 
take the legally safe route for whatever reason. That said, I think it 
is reasonable to pressure the Board to explain itself and take 
corrective actions. If nothing, it demonstrates to PGT and the wire 
(which has resisted attempts at silencing / retraction in other 
contexts) that their acts of resistance will be supported. But yes, if 
there are ways to support EPW / Sameeksha trust, those should be 
considered. In that context, the final published letter @ 
https://thewire.in/160925/epw-sameeksha-trust-open-letter/ says: 
/"//This letter is therefore also asking the Trust, which (regardless of 
its purely legal status) is in the nature of a body accountable to a 
larger public, to create channels of communication between the Trust and 
the //EPW//community so as to strengthen the autonomy and integrity of 
//EPW//."/ ... I think that last phrase is a good way to end and seems 
to be asking for ways to help support EPW.

Subbu.

On 07/24/2017 12:05 PM, john wrote:
>
> We seem to be falling for a trap.  We are training our attacks on EPW, 
> rather than a larger institutional process being set in motion by the 
> Right. Also they seem to have successfully got us to start a process 
> of "doubt" of some of our own iconic institutions, activists and 
> intellectuals.
>
> In another post elsewhere, I have said that the right path for us 
> would be to set up support structures for PGT so that he can continue 
> doing his work. We can start by buying his books, retweeting and 
> sharing his mails about cronyism rather than the EPW!
>
>
> On Saturday 22 July 2017 03:27 AM, JS CACIM wrote:
>>
>> Friday, July 21, 2017
>>
>> *India in movement…., Publishing in movement…, Freedoms in movement… *
>>
>> [Back to the future…  Yet one more instance of the clamping down on 
>> intellectual and political space in India, in this case prssure on 
>> _Economic & Political Weekly_, one of the beacons of free and 
>> critical thinking in India – and in its field, perhaps also across 
>> much of the world –, and in this case with the pressure apparently 
>> coming from the Adani Group, who (surprise, surprise) are the 
>> industrialists closest to the present government.
>>
>> [Though there is still a lot of spunky journalism in the country, 
>> there is no question from the relentless series of attacks this year 
>> (as I have posted on before this, on universities, on the publishing 
>> world, and so on) that the institutions of free – and left - thinking 
>> in India are being hit one by one, and the situation is getting 
>> darker by the month…  As the Statement says,
>>
>> “India is currently living through a dark period in which there are 
>> real concerns about media freedom and independence, with significant 
>> corporate takeover of major media houses (both print and other) and 
>> increasing instances of overt and covert intimidation of independent 
>> media.”
>>
>> [*Please consider signing the Statement*.  I have :
>>
>> Appeal for endorsements :
>>
>> *Threat to India’s valuable periodical Economic & Political Weekly*
>>
>> Mary E John and others
>>
>> NB : As below, send your endorsements to *maryejohn1 at gmail.com 
>> <mailto:maryejohn1 at gmail.com> *
>>
>>   Congratulations on your principled stand Paranjoy; thanks for 
>> initiating this Appeal, Mary – perhaps along with others such as 
>> Jayati, I understand -; and thanks for posting this internationally, 
>> Patrick.
>>
>>             In solidarity
>>
>>             Jai
>>
>> fwd
>>
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>
>>> *From: *Patrick Bond <pbond at mail.ngo.za <mailto:pbond at mail.ngo.za>>
>>> *Subject: **[Debate-List] (Fwd) threat to India's valuable 
>>> periodical Economic & Political Weekly*
>>> *Date: *July 21, 2017 at 6:30:25 AM EDT
>>> *To: *DEBATE <debate-list at fahamu.org 
>>> <mailto:debate-list at fahamu.org>>, "progeconnetwork at googlegroups.com 
>>> <mailto:progeconnetwork at googlegroups.com>" 
>>> <progeconnetwork at googlegroups.com 
>>> <mailto:progeconnetwork at googlegroups.com>>, PEN-L 
>>> <pen-l at mail.csuchico.edu <mailto:pen-l at mail.csuchico.edu>>
>>> *Reply-To: *pbond at mail.ngo.za <mailto:pbond at mail.ngo.za>
>>
>> (This comes from close allies at International Development Economics 
>> Associates. Please sign if you are concerned. I am.)
>> *
>> Economic and Political Weekly (EPW)
>>
>> *
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> As long standing members of the intellectual community served by the 
>> EPW, we are appalled and dismayed by the recent events leading to the 
>> abrupt resignation of the Editor, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. We are 
>> distressed that the Board of the Sameeksha Trust has insisted that 
>> the Editor retract articles published in the journal, and is 
>> preparing to introduce new norms for the Board-Editor relationship 
>> and appoint a co-editor.  It is obvious that, taken together, these 
>> actions (mentioned by the Editor in interviews to the press and not 
>> denied in the statement issued by the Trust) would force any 
>> self-respecting editor to resign.  By failing to distinguish between 
>> internal issues of procedural propriety in Board-Editor relationship 
>> from the much larger question of the EPW’s public reputation for 
>> integrity, the Board of the Sameeksha Trust has dealt a mortal blow 
>> to the journal’s credibility.  We can now only fear for the future of 
>> the EPW.
>>
>> Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’s professional reputation has been primarily 
>> that of an investigative journalist of several decades standing.  His 
>> well-known past exposes have delved into the malpractices of large 
>> corporations and the complicity of state institutions in such corrupt 
>> practices.  That such journalism could provoke retaliation by those 
>> investigated is hardly surprising.  These facts must have been known 
>> to the Board of Trustees of the Sameeksha Trust when they appointed 
>> Guha Thakurta as Editor just 15 months earlier.
>>
>> The fact that a legal notice was sent to the Editor and the 
>> publishers (Sameeksha Trust) of EPW, for an ongoing investigation on 
>> the tweaking of rules that have benefited the Adani Group, is 
>> therefore not surprising. Legal notices have unfortunately become the 
>> standard means used to intimidate and suppress investigative 
>> journalism. When they translate into court cases that can extend for 
>> many years, they obviously add to costs and further harassment of 
>> honest and courageous journalists. However, as long as all the 
>> published material can be adequately substantiated and verified, 
>> there is little reason to fear an adverse result from the judicial 
>> process. But publishers MUST stand behind and back their editors on 
>> this if the media are to maintain even a shred of independence and 
>> credibility.
>>
>> It is one thing to wonder if the Editor may have erred in initiating 
>> legal action on behalf of the Trust without first consulting its 
>> Board, and quite another to withdraw an already published article 
>> from the journal.  If the Board believes the article to be mistaken 
>> in its facts, it must issue a public apology and retraction.  If it 
>> is only concerned that due deference was not shown to the Board, it 
>> must publicly stand by the article while initiating action against 
>> the Editor.  By forcing the Editor’s resignation without clarifying 
>> its stand on the substance of the article, the Board has diminished 
>> the institution that it is mandated to nurture.
>>
>> India is currently living through a dark period in which there are 
>> real concerns about media freedom and independence, with significant 
>> corporate takeover of major media houses (both print and other) and 
>> increasing instances of overt and covert intimidation of independent 
>> media. In this context, reports of what appears to be a capitulation 
>> by the Board of Trustees of Sameeksha Trust –  removing the 
>> “offending” articles from the EPW website and trying to impose 
>> humiliating terms on the Editor – are alarming. The EPW has a long 
>> and distinguished tradition of encouraging independent and critical 
>> thinking that is vital in a democracy.  We hope that current Trustees 
>> will be mindful of their inherited legacy that is enriched by the 
>> contributions of scholars, analysts and activists in India and 
>> abroad, and will take immediate steps to restore the prestige and 
>> credibility of the journal and the Sameeksha Trust.
>>
>> *If you endorse this statement, please emailmaryejohn1 at gmail.com 
>> <mailto:maryejohn1 at gmail.com>….. with your name and affiliation.*
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *IDEAs or the International Development Economics Associates is 
>> committed to building a pluralistic network of committed researchers, 
>> teachers and other economists interested in advancing progressive 
>> heterodox approaches to critically analysing and addressing the 
>> problems of economic development processes.
>>
>> Website: www.networkideas.org <http://www.networkideas.org/> or 
>> www.ideaswebsite.org <http://www.ideaswebsite.org/>*
>>
>> ______________________________
>>
>> Jai Sen
>>
>> jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
>>
>> www.cacim.net <http://www.cacim.net>/http://www.openword.net.in
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