Media and massacre: The Hashimpura event,1987

Abstract

On 22 May 1987, at least 42 Muslims in Meerut (in UP) were brutally massacred by the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC). A massive cover-up was staged where sections of the media, state and its agencies seem to have colluded to conceal the massacre from public knowledge. As a result, for 28 years, Hashimpura massacre was hardly remembered except for some important articles in the reputed Economic and Political Weekly. It was in 2015 that the news media woke up to the event when a court judgement came acquitting the accused, while admitting the fact of mass murder. The whole episode casts doubt on the value of newspapers and media as historical sources.