Over the last decade, our vocabulary has been expanded to include a bunch of sharp-edge phrases.
“Salami slicing”, for instance, describes the strategy of an aggressor taking over a rival’s territory one sliver at a time.
More alarmingly, “death by a thousand cuts” now does not refer to the ancient method of slow torture but to the manner in which governments in many parts of the world have been slashing away at democratic values to undermine the rights of their citizens.
When Scroll was launched ten years ago on Republic Day in 2014, we did not foresee that we would have to report on such onslaughts. But there was no escaping them as we attempted to fulfil our mission to bring you “the news that matters”.
This has drawn us to areas – both geographic and thematic – that the mainstream media often ignores. In addition to maintaining a special focus on Kashmir and the vast North East region, we have been steadfast in our investigations about gender, the environment, health, workers’ rights, caste and education.
That was only one part of what we have set out to do. We also aim to cover “the things that make life worth living” – to report rigorously on books, film, art and the other aspects of our culture.
We’re pleased that our work is read by millions of readers each month and has brought us more than 50 national and international awards.
We have done this in a decade that has been the most arduous one the country’s journalists have ever worked through. India’s Press Freedom rank has dropped from 140 out of 180 countries in 2014 to 161 in 2023. Seven Indian journalists are now in jail – five under anti-terror laws.
On this Republic Day, we request our readers to help us safeguard the liberal values enshrined in our Constitution, especially the freedom of the press. Do sign up for a Scroll membership. In this election year, we know we have our work cut out for us.