We have, it appears, a conclusive answer to a question that has long intrigued observers of the Indian media: were journalists in the country worse off during Emergency 1.0, which stretched for 21 months in the mid-1970s under Indira Gandhi’s rule? Or is Emergency 2.0, which we are presently living through under the Narendra Modi government, far more dystopic in scope despite not being declared formally as one?The horror stories of the first interregnum are well known: the midnight knocks, the crackdown on media houses, the detentions and incarcerations, the censors at the gate. Those bitter experiences led many in the profession to believe that never again would the press in India succumb to repression, given the lessons they were forced to learn.Among those lessons was the importance of standing together to defend the idea of a free media as a united professional community and to work every day to further that freedom.Indeed, the aftermath of that first Emergency saw an efflorescence of investigative reportage and an unprecedented fearlessness of comment. When police officers punished 31 prisoners in a forgotten Bhagalpur jail by pouring acid into their eyes, it was young journalists of the day who systematically brought those atrocities to national attention.One reporter sallied forth to a Dholpur marketplace and “bought” a tribal woman in order to expose the unending human trafficking that was taking place in the heart of the Republic. And who can forget the reports put out by Rajkumar Keswani on why the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal was a ticking time bomb, after his friend working there died from toxic gas in December 1981, three years before that fatal night of December 2-3, 1984?Each of these stories, and so many more, testified to the invaluable labour of the journalist.Today that same labour is sought to be devalued, invisibilised, criminalised, emptied of all purpose and meaning, rendered a lie. When the Delhi Police can round up media personnel – not just a couple, but 43 of them according to the Committee to Protect Journalists – we know we have entered a zone of impunity. A zone where nothing really matters but commands that travel down the chain of command.When media professionals are dragged by the hair and beaten as if they were common criminals, have their equipment confiscated, are asked to produce PIB cards just so that they can document something that is taking place at a street corner, we know we have reached a realm where the clocks strike 13. A realm that we thought existed only in fiction is all around us. A realm where Big Brother is always present but now wears khaki, and where the ministry of truth has already drilled into the mass mind the cardinal principle: “Freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.”Awareness of just what it is like to function as a journalist in India is growing. On October 16, when a large assembly of media persons had gathered at the Press Club of India, the biggest concern voiced was how could journalists as a community protect themselves from a government determined to crush independent reporting.The pattern which is now being normalised in the capital is familiar to those who have followed the media scenario in Kashmir: it has the same markings of police impunity, surveillance and sledgehammer-like state censorship. But a new toxic ingredient seems to have been added to the mix: sexual violence.At least three women professionals have complained of being groped and manhandled while covering the recent protests. Even as they sought justice, they came under fire. When an independent journalist called Rosy accused ACP Vivek Bhagat of sexual assault while she was covering the protests at Jantar Mantar on October 3, he went ahead and filed a complaint alleging that she had made casteist remarks against him. She now faces an FIR.Also read: Journalist Who Alleged Sexual Assault by Delhi Cop ‘Detained’ With 17 Others for Pushing for FIRThe impact such incidents is instant. Lavpreet Kaur, writing in the Hindu (‘The calculations women make’, October 16): “Over the past week, as protests demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner unfolded in Delhi, I faced a familiar dilemma. When a situation escalated, should I move towards the crowd to document a detention or stay back and risk missing the moment?”Missing the moment would be tantamount to admitting failure as a journalist, which is why interventions like the one senior advocate Indira Jaising made in approaching the Supreme Court on behalf of NWMI and the Free Speech Collective over such alleged sexual attacks, become crucial. It forces an indifferent system to sit up and take note. In this case, Chief Justice Surya Kant actually urged a senior officer of the Delhi Police to explain the conduct of his personnel.Apathy runs deep, partly because it is so much easier to side with the powerful. The Press Council of India, set up in 1978 for the benefit of print media persons, recently issued “guidelines” on covering protests. They came layered with homilies about the need to observe “professional neutrality” and “distinguish facts from allegations and opinions”.At a time when the profession is facing an almost existential threat from the security and political establishment, it had no words of outrage over the manner in which media professionals are being set upon. Instead journalists are told to carry basic first-aid supplies, essential medication, drinking water, high-protein snacks, a flashlight, a washcloth, etc, etc. What kind of a joke has an institution meant to protect journalists been reduced to?A protester being detained by police during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, at Mandi House, in New Delhi, Friday, October 16, 2026. Photo: PTI/Salman AliSo to go back to the question that started this column: were journalists in the country worse off during Emergency 1:0 under Indira Gandhi’s rule or is Emergency 2.0, which we are presently living through, far more dystopic in scope? The answer is clear. Today the manacles bite deeper into the flesh.The one big difference between then and now is that in the earlier era there was far more solidarity among journalists. What the Modi government’s undeclared Emergency has succeeding in doing is to create a category of privileged and power-hungry media persons who are impervious to the ugly treatment meted out to their journalist colleagues. Who among them has the spunk of a Kuldip Nayar?As I had noted in a chapter I contributed to 50 Years of the Indian Emergency, Lessons for Democracy (edited by Peter Ronald deSouza & Harsh Sethi), Nayar, then editor of the Express News Service, issued a call to all journalists in Delhi to come for a meeting to discuss the Emergency at the Press Club of India on June 29, three days after the declaration.A resolution was then passed demanding the release, among others, of Jagat Nara of Hindi Samachar, Jullundur and M.R. Malkani of Motherland, who had been arrested. Copies of the resolution were sent to the president, the prime minister and the information minister. As for Nayar, he himself was arrested a month later.§International outrage over police crackdown in IndiaThe brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors in New Delhi over the last week is alarming with mass detentions, unlawful use of force, the targeting of journalists, human rights defenders including lawyers, and internet shutdowns. Rights groups Amnesty International, CIVICUS Monitor, Front Line Defenders and South Asians for Human Rights call on the Indian authorities to release everyone arbitrarily detained for the exercise of their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and ensure accountability for abuses by security forces.On October 10, 2026, protests were called by the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and backed by student groups calling for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner of India, following reports that the nationwide Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls by the election commission removed around 130 million names from voter lists.Since the call for protests, authorities used Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to ban gatherings of more than five people. Ahead of the 10 October protest, more than 50,000 police and security personnel were reportedly deployed, some drawn from other states. Trains and buses to New Delhi were cancelled or suspended, metro train stations were closed, and the city’s borders were sealed to large vehicles. Anti-riot vehicles with tear gas launchers were stationed near protest sites.At least 10,000 people were reportedly detained for violating prohibitory orders across India before the march, many while travelling to Delhi. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and other leaders were detained for violating prohibitory orders…Thousands of protestors were arbitrarily detained by the police including journalists who were covering the protests.Police moved to break up the demonstrations before they could begin, intercepting demonstrators on their way to designated protest sites. Some were dragged away before being bundled into police vehicles and taken to temporary detention centres. Some police personnel had no visible name tags…Many women protestors and journalists accused security personnel of sexual harassment while they were detained during the protests. Right-wing vigilante groups were also seen threatening and assaulting protesters and journalists. Some of them harassed Muslim women journalists while they were covering the protests.The right to protest is protected in India’s constitution. Demonstrations should not depend on obtaining prior permission from the police. At most, organisers may be expected to notify the authorities of their plans…§Readers write in…First an apology for not carrying the mail sent in over the last two months because I was on vacation. I now hope to clear some of the backlog over the next two columns. While going through the letters, one aspect stood out for me: the number of young people, especially students, facing mental health issues because of indifferent institutions, uncaring professors and a repressive environment. The Wire may not have the space to respond to each of them but these letters indicate that the rage of GenZ on the streets of the country today is not manufactured – it is real.§All the facts about Sahil’s suicide have not come outI am a student of IIT Bombay, studying in 2nd year at Dept. of Energy Science & Engg – batch mate of Sahil (‘IIT Bombay Deletes its Apology Over Student’s Suicide, Later Posts It Again After Backlash’, September 25). I do not wish to reveal my identity as I might be harassed for revealing this information to the larger public. The whole batch is being pressurized by the HoD and the FacAd (Faculty Adviser) to not speak up about anything that happened. We do discuss the issue internally in our hostel wings and messes but everyone is scared because speaking up would have repercussions on their grades and careers…Any student, including me, will succumb to undue and extreme pressure by 3-5 professors in a closed room, the way they did with Sahil. It could have been me or any other student on campus. Sahil was very much one amongst us. No exception.I am writing to raise serious concerns regarding the independence, impartiality and constitution of the 10-member enquiry committee appointed by the IIT Bombay Board of Governors (BoG) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of student Sahil Wakode, including allegations of caste-based discrimination raised by his family.§Why censor ‘Prisoner No. 626710?A student, this time from the National Law School, exposes the shutting down of freedom of thought and expression in the institution. The Wire had earlier carried a piece on disturbing developments in the institution (‘Time For NLSIU to Change Its ‘Dharma Rakshati Rakshataha’ Motto’, June 3)Hi, I am a student of National Law School of India writing on the contentious issue of Umar Khalid. On September 13, Khalid completed six years in Tihar jail. Amidst all the debate going on about the screening of the documentary, ‘Prisoner No. 626710’, it appears that Freedom of Speech and Expression seems to have been put behind bars as well. The students of a committee (LawSoc – Law and Society) in the National Law School of India, proposed to screen this documentary but because of constant pressure from ABVP, the student wing of RSS, and legal opposition from the Central Board of Film Certification, the screening could not take place. The university administration has also ceased its support of issues of this kind, or offer protection to those who speak up…The central claim of ABVP is that NLSIU students are supporting a terrorist, Umar Khalid. The committee has received numerous emails from these groups, and there were several lawyers among them too. But, in reality, who is a terrorist? Who decides this? In our country, the courts of law are the authorities empowered to adjudicate on such matters. A person accused of any offence is not a criminal until they are proven guilty. But in the case of Umar Khalid, the government, which is the prosecutor in this case, is not letting the court even begin to hear the case. How can you label someone a terrorist whose case has not started yet?…Opposing the screening of a documentary shows the fear that certain groups have of informed citizens. The purpose of this screening was merely educational; an attempt to underline the state of under trial prisoners in the nation. This was not supposed to hurt the fragile ego of some groups but to promote an academic discussion. What this indicates is the death of institutional freedom within Indian institutions of learning.§The first important step in designing software…Data engineer Sujata E. writes in from Thiruvananthapuram… This is with reference to your article the SIR and TCS, and the questions raised on the software for voter data management (‘Software of the SIR That Runs Without Transparency Explained’, September 28).As an engineer who has designed and written software, I can say with certainty that the first step in the process is the development of requirements. Software should be written strictly based on these requirements. Requirements may change but they are reviewed and controlled before software changes are made.So the question to be asked of TCS is to provide information on how requirements are generated, controlled and maintained. What standards did they follow to ensure that the software is strictly in accordance to the requirements? When a change is asked for, what is the process adopted to implement the new requirement? What standards are followed to test whether the software meets the requirements? Is testing done before a roll-out? If so what is the process followed?These are some of the basic principles that need to be followed for any software to ensure integrity of outcome, more so, for a software with such far-reaching consequences as SIR.§The NRC movement in Manipur and The Wire’s reportRajkumar Panthoiren has a strong critique of The Wire’s coverage…I am writing to raise a serious concern regarding The Wire‘s factual misrepresentation of a serious issue, concerning the National Register of Citizens (NRC) demand movement currently ongoing in Manipur (‘Kuki-Zo Council Rejects Demand For NRC Before Census in Manipur as ‘Premature and Unjustified‘, August 24). It has brazenly misrepresented the demand as not only a Meitei-specific demand but, more worryingly, as if the Nagas of Manipur are also opposed to it. The demand for NRC in Manipur is being voiced by Meiteis, Nagas, Meitei Pangals (Manipuri Muslims), Telis, Gorkhas, etc., while the Kukis are the exception who are opposed to it. Basically, there is no tribal and non-tribal binary to it.The problematic line in the Wire reads:“Meanwhile, several Kuki-Zo and Naga tribal groups have expressed concerns about the potential misuse of NRC to target vulnerable communities.” It is to be noted that the very Press Release that The Wire quotes of the Kuki-Zo Council in its report mentions “… ongoing demands by certain communities in Manipur for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census…,” which indicates the multi-community aspect of the demand.“In Manipur in particular and Northeast India in general, the press releases by the apex civil society bodies (CSOs) representing a particular community affirm the community’s consensus on sensitive issues, political or otherwise. The main opposition party in Manipur, the Indian National Congress (INC), has also extended support to the demand.“Also, the major regional party, the National People’s Party (NPP)’s Manipur State Unit, has also just recently submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister on 21 August, 2026, demanding NRC before the Census and Delimitation exercises are undertaken in Manipur. The signatories of the NPP state unit’s memorandum includes its President and General Secretary (Admin), both of whom are Manipuri Nagas.“Why is it important to point out the wrong reportage/editorial? The Manipur crisis, that has been raging since May 2023, is a grave humanitarian crisis with the Meitei-Kuki (so-called non-tribal and tribal) conflict dimension expanded to Naga-Kuki (both tribals) conflict now. It is complex, and the mainstream or “national” media, both print and digital, have not risen to the occasion. A lingering theme of the nature of reportage on the conflicts has been a lazy, binary approach where the conflicts have been easily branded as between a majority and a minority, tribal and non-tribal and so on.“Kindly direct The Wire to correct the factually wrong reporting…If at all it wants to retain the wrong reportage, then, it must mention in its reports that specific Naga groups have actually raised concerns on the NRC demand in Manipur.”§First article takedown for AI UseAnd finally, Jahnavi Sen, managing editor, The Wire, wrote in about the first article take down for AI use…We had our first article taken down for AI use today. Editors who read it after publication including myself found it to be carrying some telltale signs, and it got a 100% AI generated score on Pangram. The author had earlier denied any AI use, but after the takedown has agreed that he used AI for “framing and editing”. Just wanted to flag this for your records: https://thewire.in/rights/no-such-data-is-maintainedWrite to ombudsperson@thewire.in