Wednesday, All editions of Mathrubhumi carried a blacked out front page.

Readers of the Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi woke up to the sight of the front page of the daily bearing no news, but news items struck off with black ink.

But the puzzled readers got their answer on the second page of the newspaper in an explanatory note that said:

“Today is World Press Freedom Day. Mathrubhumi, that began nine decades ago continues to fight for freedom. Mathrubhumi was born as a means to fight the British rule in the country and when it published its first edition, it printed the following pledge: "A man needs to have freedom to carry out his responsibilities. Likewise, citizens of every country must have freedom to develop their own culture and contribute to the larger good of the society. Therefore, we will not only fight for the freedom of our own country, but also to attain the freedom for those countries, who have lost their freedom".

Years after newspapers such as The Indian Express and The Statesman ran blank editorials as a mark of their resistance during the Emergency, the Malayalam newspaper embraced a similar tactic to bring to light the rising threat to the freedom of the press.

World Press Freedom (WPF ) has pulled down India by not only 3 points but also index also.

Why India ranked down in ranking and Index top four reasons attributed by WPF:

1) Threat from Modi’s nationalism is the main reason attributed. With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of “anti-national” thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media.

2) Journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals.

3) The government has also introduced new foreign funding regulations to limit international influence. Coverage of regions that the authorities regard as sensitive, such as Kashmir, continues to be very difficult, and there are no protective mechanisms. Internet cut in Gujarat when patel caste agitation was going on..

4) On the first day of a wave of protests in Kashmir in July 2016, the Internet was cut by the military and was often interrupted thereafter to prevent communication between protesters and prevent coverage by the media and citizen journalists.