The Hindu : `A condemnable infringement on the right to information'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 09, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

`A condemnable infringement on the right to information'

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Nov. 8. The Tamil Nadu Assembly's decision to imprison editors and senior journalists of The Hindu and the Editor of Murasoli on Friday is a "condemnable and undemocratic infringement" on the right to information, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V.S. Achuthanandan, has said.

At a meeting at the Trivandrum Press Club today, he said the action indicated the "standards" of those who had been the subject of the criticism. "The Assembly, like a court, has the right to pass a sentence. But those passing the verdict should have the tolerance to think about the rights of those who have been sentenced," he said.

The rights and privileges of the Assembly were meant for the healthy and meaningful functioning of the House and Friday's incidents were an assault on the freedom of the press, the former Speaker and Congress MP, V.M. Sudheeran, said.When those wielding power start taking steps against those whom they do not like it leads to a situation like the Emergency, the CPI assistant secretary, Panniyan Ravindran, said. "This is not an assault on the press but on the entire public and hence a broad unity of different sections of society is imperative to fight such attempts."

Wherever the press has been shackled democracy has crumbled, the BJP State general secretary, M.S. Kumar, said.The former MP, K. Mohanan, termed it an attack on democracy while the AICC general secretary, Vayalar Ravi, described the incidents as a breach of democratic rights and an attempt to curb press freedom.

`No constitutional validity'

In Kottayam, the CPI (M) Lok Sabha member and member of the Privileges Committee, Varkala Radhakrishnan, said the action of the Tamil Nadu Assembly had no constitutional validity. The Lok Sabha Privileges Committee would look into the issue of arbitrary misuse of its privileges by the Assembly since its actions had far reaching implications for the delicate democratic traditions shaped by the polity through the past many decades, he said.

IJU calls for protests

In Palakkad, the Indian Journalists Union president, Suresh Akhouri, condemned the "fascist" attack on The Hindu, and said that attacks on the media had increased in Tamil Nadu after Jayalalithaa returned to power.The IJU has directed its State units, including the Kerala Journalists Union, to organise protest meetings throughout the country. Mr. Akhouri, who is also a member of the Press Council of India, said he would demand an urgent meeting of the Council to discuss the issue. The IJU has also requested the International Federation of Journalists to protest this anti-democratic and anti-constitutional act against the freedom of the press.

The Palakkad Press Club president, Vechuchira Madhu, said the Kerala Union of Working Journalists and the Kerala Journalists Union would jointly organise a protest march and meeting at the Municipal Bus Stand in the town on Monday.

The Malayalam TV channel, Kairali, said it was aghast at the "outrage" against The Hindu by the Tamil Nadu Government and expressed solidarity in the fight against "intolerance and despotism". The assault on The Hindu was an infringement on the basic principles of press freedom, it said.

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