Didn’t give Warishe a byline as I was doubtful of the backlash, says Editor Sadashiv Kerkar
BYFREESPEECHCOLLECTIVEON FEBRUARY 9, 2023 https://freespeechcollective.in/2023/02/09/didnt-give-warishe-a-byline-as-i-was-doubtful-of-the-backlash-says-editor-sadashiv-kerkar/ Warishe covered local issues, from politics and crime to education and health. “He used to write a lot about the agitation by the locals against the refinery project. He knew how much it would affect their lives,” he added. Warishe had covered the agitation and the MVA government decision to scrap it from Nanar and shift it to Barsu-Salgaon, 20 kms away from Nanar. He was the lone voice covering the manner in which the land acquisition process was going on, the use of threats and intimidation and the resistance of the locals.
“He always had concrete evidence. People would ask me why we are publishing his news reports of the refinery project but I would always reply that he had the evidence and I won’t stop him. Lekin thoda sa doubt tha, so I didn’t give him the byline. I thought that would protect him,” Kerkar said.
Most newspapers in the area shied away from covering the agitation of local residents. Environmental activists, angry at the killing of Warishe, told FSC that local media was sold out or frightened into silence. Not Warishe, who wrote a number of reports on the protests by the local residents in Mahanagari Times.
Why Maharashtra journalist’s murder reflects poorly on status of press freedom in India By Kalpana Sharma https://www.newslaundry.com/2023/02/09/why-maharashtra-journalists-murder-reflects-poorly-on-status-of-press-freedom-in-india
Shashikant Warishe was mowed down by a vehicle driven by a criminal allegedly linked to the BJP.
09 Feb, 2023 His last report, which appeared on the front page of Mahanagari Times, had images of posters showing Amberkar with Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and prime minister Narendra Modi. In the report, Warishe mentioned that Amberkar, who actively campaigned for the refinery, was accused of “serious offences”.
For his journalism, and for reporting on this local struggle against the refinery, Warishe fell afoul of those who would benefit from it being located in the region. Struggles like the one in Nanar, and now in Barsu, are taking place across this country with local people questioning the location of polluting industries, mines, and many other infrastructure projects. Their voices are barely audible in the cacophony that dominates mainstream media. Yet, ultimately, these struggles ought to be recorded by the media for they give us a true picture of what is going on in the rest of this country beyond the metro cities.