(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned about the actions taken last week by a customs official in Calcutta to censor the 21 February 2000 edition of “Time”, an international weekly newsmagazine. On 16 February, customs agents at the Calcutta airport blocked the distribution of 3,000 issues of “Time” magazine because they contained a one-page interview […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned about the actions taken last week by a customs official in Calcutta to censor the 21 February 2000 edition of “Time”, an international weekly newsmagazine.
On 16 February, customs agents at the Calcutta airport blocked the distribution of 3,000 issues of “Time” magazine because they contained a one-page interview with Gopal Godse, the brother of Mohandas Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse. In a letter to “Time”‘s Indian distributor dated 17 February, a customs officer explained that the shipment was stopped “in order to prevent the dissemination of documents containing… [material] which is derogatory to national prestige,” and stipulated that the magazines would be released only after “blackening the page containing the ‘Interview’ on Mahatma Gandhi appearing on page 17.” The letter, signed by Bholanath Dasgupta, assistant commissioner of customs in Calcutta, specified two grounds for censorship of the article: “(1) It is defamatory and derogatory to the Father of the Nation, and (2) It contains statements which can create communal disharmony.”
“Time”‘s circulation in northeast India was disrupted by the move. Subscribers’ copies were delivered five days late, and vendors received their shipments several days behind schedule. The Godse interview, meanwhile, has been available on “Time” magazine’s Web site since 14 February, and has been widely circulated.
Sumit Dutta Majumdar, commissioner of customs in Calcutta, ordered the censorship action, citing his authority under Section 11 of the Customs Act. This is the second time that Majumdar has ordered the censorship of “Time” magazine. Last year, an article on a dispute affecting tiger conservation efforts — published in the magazine’s 20 September 1999 edition — was also blacked out under his direction.
CPJ is dismayed that such actions are tolerated in a country with a strong free press tradition. CPJ is particularly troubled by news from a source in New Delhi that “starting this week, senior airport customs officials all over India have been ordered by their higher-ups to check the magazine thoroughly for any objectionable stories.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the prime minister:
– respectfully urging His Excellency to order an immediate inquiry into these allegations to determine whether there is a systematic effort underway to censor the news, and to inform those responsible that his administration will not condone such actions
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:His Excellency Atal Behari Vajpayee
Prime Minister, Republic of India
Office of the Prime Minister
South Block
New Delhi 110 011
India
Fax: +91 11 301 6857
E-mail: http://164.100.24.8/feedb.htmlPlease copy appeals to the source if possible.
