Oh yeah...?!!!! Yeah! So you settle for this medical/equipment compensation and...? No, we don't settle for anything... but there isn't a choice in... Did you guys even try... isn't this the time to make a point? NOW...before the issue is two days old and in the fridge, never mind the backburner! Actually a senior photo editor, of the city's most prominent paper, had called and said that the management wouldn't stand for a boycott. So that's that. That shut me up. What were we going on about? Oh, nothing much. Just a couple of photojournalists were thrashed the other day. Heck, innocent folk get thrashed by our police force everyday. It's a global phenomenon. So what's the big deal? Well, the big deal in this case is...a) I work with these guys. b) I know them to be clean and decent where their profession is concerned (which cannot be said of all photojournalists) and lastly, it could have been me. Photographers Prashant Nakwe and Deepak Joshi (of Mid-Day and Indian Express, Bombay, respectively) were at a suburban railway station photographing the disruption of train services due to a motorman being attacked by an irate public. Chaos prevailed at the Kalyan station when Nakwe and Joshi got there. Where there's chaos there's gotta be pix, right? So with the studied recklessness ascribed to editorial photographers, the duo approached the melee, cameras on the draw, shooting... When without warning, the Government Railway Police (in civvies) objected to their photography, violently. Joshi received blows to his head, neck and shoulders that caused his ears to bleed and Nakwe...he now has partial vision in his shooting eye due to a blow near his left brow. The boys were kept in the lock-up for hours, without medical aid or telephone facilities being made available to them. While making statements, the cops in question said the duo were arguing with each other and were taken to the nearby police kiosk for disturbing the peace. The register, however, showed that the two, teetotalers in real life, were drunk and obstructing rail traffic! Another version said the cops saved the photographers from the mob violence. Somewhere along the way it's said that Nakwe and Joshi were brought in by passengers claiming the two to be ISI agents, no less! All this, allegedly, due to an expose done a year ago by Mid-Day regarding touts at railway ticketing outlets and on outbound trains. Unfortunately, they walked into a happening tout fiesta where those in civvies were involved at Kalyan station and got slammed for it. A day after the incident, there was a demonstration by journos and peejays (as in photo-journos) protesting the 'tout nexus'. After initial refusal by the police, Ram Naik, the minister of state for railways, succumbed to pressure and had the case against the cops registered as a cognisable offence. Further, they have been transferred to the boondocks should they try to interfere with the inquiry proceedings currently underway. That in itself reveals how susceptible the system is to influence by mere constables. However, the spineless does not stop there. Joshi and Nakwe have been compensated for equipment damage and all medical expenses will be undertaken by the railway ministry. And everybody goes home happy. ?...?...? Excuse me...isn't something out of sync here? Shouldn't there be a boycott that can be used to full advantage, not just to score for the journalists but also against rampant corruption? Isn't it possible that all the city's papers, just for a day, one day only, not print photographs and use the blank squares to register their protest? Please don't tell me I'm venting my spleen to naught. I know. That's what's teeing me off. The whole world talks about the power of the Fourth Estate, but for all the world cares it may well be real estate. Only the moolah and management count. One of the reasons that incidents like these and worse, much worse, take place, is because of the confidence the cops have in the weight of their uniform and the immunity it gives them. S Varadarajan, in an article, 'Truth about Torture -- Saga of the Lonely Indian Prisoner' in the ToI of June 26, 1999, expresses common sentiment aptly. "Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity enshrined in the Indian Constitution, no government official can be prosecuted for an act 'committed in the course of his duty' without the permission of the government. And the government rarely, if ever, sanctions such prosecutions." And the three culprits here, were in civvies!! Lucky blokes... got away with a transfer (good for their health in all probability) and suspension. As to when the case against them, now made cognisable, comes up, is anybody's guess. Touting at railway stations by coolies and cops is so common, it's a way of life. An unexpected touting incident took place when photographing coolies at work. Literally shooting in the dark, in a train compartment, caused problems for a passenger who got smacked about quite a bit on the three or four occasions that he kept yelling to get my attention to expose the touts, who physically removed folk from seats to their own advantage. In fact, the window came down on me thrice but was shoved up again to accommodate the photography. Inside of three minutes of this activity, the coolies gathered about the one chap I'd been concentrating on. It was obvious that they objected to my being around. Sensing this I (rather apprehensively) approached them and assured them that they had nothing to fear since these photos were for a workshop assignment and not to be published. I kept my word. The next morning at another station a plain-clothes cop approached me and started to query my activity (permission for had been received from the appropriate authorities) and bluster officially. After exchanging ID cards, he continued till I sighted an officer in uniform and spoke to him. I was told to continue my work and not argue. Argue about the attitude of the guy in civvies. So, why didn't I use this opportunity to do something about it?? Do what? How far does exposing help? Mid-Day did, what happened? Their guy gets thrashed. Why didn't I receive the same treatment? Ahhhh...it's sentiment towards the weaker gender that saved my butt. Especially the night the coolies got caught in my frame. Collectively, however, the Fourth Estate can make a difference. Check out the cash collected for the Kargil jawans! That's the most recent incident when media strength was brought to the fore...Can't something similar be done to clean up our policing system? Uh..oh, guess I've been day-dreaming again. Damn. Photography or otherwise, Jewella C Miranda shoots from the hip.
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