(This article was originally published on 31 December 2017. It is being republished to mark the World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.)
As the year 2017 bids adieu, India finds itself in a shameful position with this year’s tally of 12 journalists either murdered or killed in suspicious situations. The largest democracy in the world thus emerges as one of the most hazardous places for media persons after Mexico, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, etc.
India’s troubled neighbour, Pakistan, lost seven professional journalists and a media student to assailants in the year in comparison. Its other neighbours, namely Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Maldives, witnessed the murder of one scribe each in the last 12 months. And tiny neighbours like Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet (now under Chinese occupation) evaded journalist-killing incidents during this period altogether.