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Journalism of Courage
One of the world’s leading freedom-of-expression organisations, the London-based Index on Censorship, posthumously honoured the IIT engineer Satyendra Kumar Dubey with the prestigious Whistleblower of the Year Award this evening.
While announcing the award Ursula Owen, the Editor of Index on Censorship said: ‘‘Satyendra Kumar Dubey knew the risk he was taking but took it nonetheless. It can only be hoped that the award will help spur the Indian Government to do something about Dubey’s death and the reasons behind it.’’
Owen said that some in the UK will be surprised that the award did not go to Katharine Gun, the UK whistleblower who worked for the government’s spying headquarters GCHQ. She was sacked for leaking a confidential email from the US spies asking their British counterparts to tap phones of nations voting at the UN on war against Iraq.
Owen also praised the role of The Indian Express in committing itself to the highlight Dubey’s crusade against corruption. She said: ‘‘The media has a real job to uncover these stories. But it also has to make sure that such stories are not put on page 20. This is the issue about free expression without which media is nothing. The Indian Express was not only the first to uncover the story, they have also been extremely committed to the issue and that’s very, very admirable.’’
In November last year, The Indian Express had first reported that Dubey, before he was killed in Gaya, had complained to the Prime Minister’s Office about corruption in a GQ stretch where he had been working. The sustained coverage of his case by The Indian Express created a public furore and prompted the Prime Minister to declare that his killers would be punished ‘‘wherever they are’’. A CBI inquiry was ordered into his killing. At the award presentation ceremony today, Owen said: ‘‘Whistleblowing lies at the heart of free expression because corruption and secrets can be so harmful to the democratic process.
‘‘Some will be surprised that the award did not go to Katharine Gun (UK’s Iraq whistleblower) for causing us to again question the role official secrets play in our lives.’’
The award was presented by veteran journalist Ann Leslie in a special ceremony held at the London’s newly built City Hall. It was received on behalf of Dubey by Prawal Gupta, an old friend who represents the UK chapter of the S K Dubey Foundation set up last December to campaign for justice for Dubey. Speaking to The Indian Express, Gupta, a software engineer based here, said that he received the award with mixed feelings. He was happy that Dubey’s sacrifice has been internationally recognised, but sad because ‘‘I had to receive this award in place of Dubey.’’
Gupta studied with Dubey at IIT Kanpur during the early nineties. He said: ‘‘Dubey was a very honest man. He would like to do things but would not take credit for them. He was man who really believed he could do something. If anything was wrong he would not take tolerate it. He believed things could be improved. Most of would talk about corruption for hours in our drawing rooms but wouldn’t do anything about it.’’
Others shortlisted for the Whistleblower of the Year Award 2004 were Katharine Gun, Uzbekistan’s Fatima Mukhadirova and Ukraine’s Valeri Kravchenko.
Mukhadirova, an Uzbek woman sentenced to six years of hard labour for ‘‘possessing unsanctioned religious literature,’’ spoke out about the torture and death of her son while in state custody. Kravchenko, a Ukrainian intelligence officer, risked jail by publicly handing over a confidential dossier that he claims incriminates the President’s staff over spying on government and opposition ministers.
The Censor of the Year Award went to US Attorney General John Ashcroft.
