A boycott, Rahul’s speech: How media unity forced Om Birla to budge on press curbs

When journalists arrived at the new parliament building at 10 am on Monday, they were prepared for a packed day, expecting to take bytes from MPs on a range of issues – from the new budget to the controversy surrounding the Delhi coaching centre deaths.

What they didn’t expect was being stopped by security officers from going to Makar Dwar, the gate where MPs speak to the media while entering and exiting parliament. The journalists were told to remain in the media container – a glass enclosure within the complex – nearby, and to take bytes only within a distance of around 10 footsteps.

It was then that they decided not to speak to any MP as a mark of protest. 

Within eight hours, the issue was raised in parliament and before a business advisory committee, several opposition leaders met the journalists, and a letter was written to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla. The speaker then met them, lifted the restrictions, and even promised to look into the possibility of bringing back a system of annual passes which was discontinued after Covid. 

Over the last four years, several journalist bodies and opposition parties have been demanding that mediapersons be allowed to cover parliamentary proceedings. The restrictions imposed on media access to the house during the pandemic are yet to be completely lifted. Newslaundry has reported on the issue at length.

The protest

Reporters from organisations such as ANI, PTI, News 18, Aaj Tak, NDTV etc. first sat inside the container until 3.30 pm. 

“It was a rare form of unity from the reporters present today across organisations,” said one of the journalists present there. 

“The container we were stuck in today is next to a driveway. It is hard for the MPs to stop there and give us bytes because if they park there, they will cause a jam,” said a journalist. “Hence we decided to boycott taking all bytes today so that the speaker can realise what we are going through.”

A reporter said that all the TV journalists in the container restrained themselves from interviewing any MP.

“Even the journalists who are very obviously pro-BJP restrained from taking the interviews of BJP MPs like Kiren Rijeju today. They stayed true to their boycott,” said the reporter.

As the hours went by, the unity – as well as the visuals of the journalists in the container that went viral – seemed to have worked. 

Rahul Gandhi’s intervention

Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, after promising the journalists he would do so. And by evening, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla had met a delegation of around 20 journalists. After hearing their demands, he said he would ease the restriction imposed today. 

Newslaundry learnt that he also promised to consider bringing back annual passes, look into bringing improvements to the current media enclosure, increasing the number of gates journalists can enter the parliament from, introduce a new line for them, and make improvements in the canteen. 

A reporter told Newslaundry that it was Rahul Gandhi’s intervention that led Birla to promptly act on the issue. “Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in such a big way that it barely took Birla four hours to resolve it,” said the reporter. “We have been raising the issue of our restricted access to parliament so many times; the press bodies have also intervened, but we have not got a reaction. Until now.”

At the end of his 49-minute speech on the budget, Gandhi had said to the speaker, “You have shut the mediapersons in a cage. Let them out.”

When he went on to call the mediapersons bechare (helpless), Birla interrupted him to say, “Bechare nahi hai voh. Don’t use that word for them.” Gandhi responded, “Non-bechare media waale have told me to fold my hands and ask you to let them out. They are very disturbed.”

Birla told him to meet him in his chambers and discuss it. 

Opposition leaders such as Akhilesh Yadav, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Derek O’Brien, and Manoj Jha had also gone to meet the journalists when they were in the container. 

The matter was also brought up in the Business Advisory Committee today by Congress leaders. AAP leader Raghav Chaddha, meanwhile, also wrote a letter to the speaker.

According to a reporter present in the meeting with Birla, the speaker also promised to bring back the system of annual passes, which was discontinued after Covid. Currently, only seasonal and temporary passes are given even to reporters eligible for permanent annual passes. Even these limited passes are given in an “arbitrary manner”, reporters told Newslaundry.

An official privy to the matter said the speaker said he would consider bringing back annual passes, but there was no timeline for the same. 

What triggered the restriction

Two of the journalists present in the container today told Newslaundry that it was likely that today’s restriction was a “knee-jerk reaction” to an incident a few days ago. 

“Trouble started a few days back when farm leaders came to meet Rahul Gandhi. They were given a temporary pass and the rule is that you can’t interact with the media on a temporary pass. But they gave bytes to the media, with Gandhi and separately as well. All this was done at Makar Dwar.”

During Gandhi’s speech as well, when he brought up how farmers were allowed in only when he went to get them, Birla had told him in response it was a rule that no one besides an MP could give a byte to the media. 

Over the last four years, several media bodies and opposition parties have urged the speaker to lift the restrictions imposed on journalists during Covid. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha press advisory committees have also collapsed. 

Meanwhile, the Press Club of India demanded lifting of the restrictions and the Delhi Union of Journalists said they were “shocked” at the way accredited journalists movement was restricted inside parliament today. 

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an official confirmed to Newslaundry that journalists would be able to “go back to reporting the same way” they did last week, on the barricade of the Makar Dwar. 

When asked about the permanent passes being revived, the official said that the speaker said he would “consider it” but there was no timeline decided for the same. The officer said there was no discussion on the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Media Advisory committees being revived.