01 June 2009
CGNet and Citizen Journalism in India
By Shubhranshu Choudhary
Shubhranshu Choudhary is an Indian journalist who has worked for The Guardian and the BBC and who is a cofounder of CGnet, the citizen journalism project that is the subject of his essay. This year he was awarded the prestigious Knight Fellowship for international journalists for his groundbreaking, and sometimes risky, work.
The list of journalists published by the Journalists Union in the tribal state of Chhattisgarh has only one Adivasi name in it — that of Kamlesh Painkra — but he is no longer a journalist.
Chhattisgarh (CG) is a small state in central India, carved out in the year 2000 for its predominantly indigenous population called Adivasis (original inhabitants). The Indian constitution lists them as “Scheduled Tribes,” constituting 8 percent of the population. Seventy-five percent of the tribals live in the central region of India.
Adivasis are the most deprived section of Indian society, occupying the lowest rung on the ladder of social indicators. They are worse off than the former untouchables (dalits). They have little or no political voice. CGnet was launched to help them make their voices heard. CGnet is the people’s Web site of Chhattisgarh, where everybody is a journalist. It is a citizens’ journalism forum whose mission is the democratization of journalism, where journalism is not restricted only to journalists.
Kamlesh Painkra says, “Had CGnet not been there, I would have had two choices as a consequence of doing journalism in Chhattisgarh. One, I may have committed suicide; the other option was to join the Maoists. I had no third choice.” Suicide is an option of despair that is not uncommon among India’s rural poor.
Maoists are Indian left-wing extremists leading a bloody rebellion of the Adivasis. Unable to make headway in cities, they have made the forest their home for the past three decades. The situation is critical enough for the Indian prime minister to declare the insurgency started by Maoists (also known as Naxalites) as the biggest internal security threat for India.
Absence of Communication
Currently, not only are there no professional tribal journalists, but there are no journalists who can communicate with tribals directly. Literacy rates are abysmal, because there is no education facility that teaches in any tribal language, despite provisions in the Indian constitution for affirmative action for tribals in jobs, education, and land issues. This has resulted in a divided society and an absence of dialogue between the tribal and non-tribal communities.
Community radio could supplement the tribal drums, which are still used as a medium of communication, but the only radio station is the government-owned All India Radio, which does not broadcast any news bulletins in a tribal language.
The Indian regulations do not allow community-owned radio stations. There is limited reflection of tribal opinion and issues in the mainstream media.
According to a survey by Delhi-based alternative media organization Charkha at the time of the start of CGnet, five years ago, reporting on issues of common people in the local newspapers was an astonishingly low 2 percent.
Kamlesh Painkra first came in touch with CGnet when he was exiled from his home for writing about the atrocities of the state-sponsored militia called Salwa Judum, or “peace march.” The police chief asked him to write an apology for what he wrote, saying it was a mistake. Painkra refused. Then his brother was jailed for harboring Maoists in his home, although he had a tenant in his house who was an officer in the Indian paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force who tried to intervene on his behalf. A friend of Painkra who was in the police told him there was a police plan to kill him and advised Painkra to leave. Painkra moved to Dantewada but could not find work as a journalist. Citizen journalists in CGnet not only helped Painkra but took up his work.
Citizen journalists of CGnet have helped expose human rights violations that the mainstream press has missed. Some of the stories have been picked up by the mainstream media and attracted the attention of human rights activists.
Adivasis have a rich oral tradition. All their poetry and songs pass from one generation to the next orally. CGnet intends to record these oral treasures digitally in order to save their rich tribal languages and cultures.
CGnet has trained some young Adivasis in simple tricks of citizen journalism, such as how to record and convey their concerns over mobile phones using the built-in camera. These images are then uploaded on the Web site and discussed on the forum through e-mail.
A Voice for the Voiceless
In April 2007 a television station reported the death of half a dozen Adivasis in a village called Santoshpur. Police authorities were quick to issue a statement saying Adivasis died in a crossfire between police and Maoists. Then a CGnet citizen journalist secretly recorded an interview with the head of the police party that killed the villagers, who gave graphic details about the operation. It forced the state to reopen the case when it was taken to the Chhattisgarh high court by human rights activists.
The growing strength of the group, in terms of numbers and the quality of debate, is so encouraging that CGnet now hopes to expand its area of influence to tribal populations in four neighboring states. This will bring together tribals who have been divided by administrative boundaries, although they have a common language and culture, and provide a hub where similar communities can share their stories and build a dialogue with what they see as the “outside world.”
Samad Mohapatra, a veteran journalist in the nearby state of Orissa says, “I wish my state had a similar platform, and I hope all these future protégés of CGnet will create a wider alternative media platform.”
Annual face-to-face meetings of CGnet allow people with different ideologies to meet up and talk. At the last annual CGnet meeting, representatives from the mining industries and tribals opposing them shared their concerns across the table. Forty-four percent of Chhattisgarh is forest where the tribals live. These forest areas also house rich mineral deposits. With the new economic policy, the pace of industrialization has increased. Now these resource-rich forest areas are under scrutiny of Indian and multinational companies who want to use these minerals.
As the tribals are not formally educated, they fear that they will be left out of this development. Mainstream media, which are mainly owned by corporations or are heavily dependent on them, fail to provide adequate space for tribal concerns.
CGnet tries to fill this gap. Its members work to complement the mainstream media by concentrating on the subjects mainstream media does not or cannot cover.
When Indian authorities allow community radio in this troubled region, Adivasis trained by CGnet can have their own communication network, which will be a medium for the people, by the people, and of the people, with just a little help from technology and a few volunteers.
The Washington-based International Center for Journalists is also helping CGnet achieve this dream.
Himanshu Kumar of Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, who has worked with Chhattisgarh Adivasis for a long time, says, “Adivasis are in bad shape because they never spoke up against the atrocities against them. Now CGnet has given a voice to the voiceless.”
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.
