The unfortunate quarrel between Amchi Mumbai and Hamara Bharat, and the role played by the media, brought to mind another time when the free press was a subject of deep concern. Remember the obituary notice in the classified section of the papers on the day Emergency was declared, when L.I.Berty’s death was announced. Remember also the dramatic protests on censorship with blank editorial pages in The

Indian Express, and a suspension of their unbroken series by the journal Seminar. Liberty had been killed by a tyrannical state. About this we had no doubt. We were equally certain that the only way to counter the abuse of power was the presence of a free press. It was for us the ever vigilant sentinel, the mirror to reality. If it was weakened, we feared, rumour would rule. Information would be coloured, censored, exaggerated. The conductor of the state transport bus would be the purveyor of news. And society ran the risk of a friendly scuffle between neighbours descending into a conflict between communities.

Those were anxious days. We could not tell the difference between truth and falsehood, fabrication and fact. Hard news was not available but doctored news was. Levels of trust were low because we felt the news had been massaged by the arms of the state. We did not want to be manipulated. And so when Emergency was lifted we heaved a sigh of relief. L.I.Berty was free to soar once more. It was possible to believe the news again.

... contd.