The Hindu : Immediate withdrawal of sentence sought

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

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National

Immediate withdrawal of sentence sought

By Our Staff Reporter

Veteran journalists in New Delhi protesting against the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker's order sentencing The Hindu editors and journalists on Saturday. From left are: S,N, Sinha, Kuldip Nayar, H.K. Dua, K.K. Katyal, Sanjay Roy, Nihal Singh and S.K. Pandey. — Photo: Anu Pushkarna

NEW DELHI NOV. 8. An anguished and agitated media fraternity held a vociferous demonstration today outside the Press Club of India here in protest against the Tamil Nadu Assembly's action against the Publisher, the Editor, the Executive Editor and two journalists of The Hindu and the editor of Murasoli for "breach of privilege".

Demanding immediate revocation of the warrants, they burnt an effigy of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, and blocked traffic on the busy Raisina Road.

Holding aloft banners and placards, the journalists assembled inside the PCI lawns in the afternoon and then marched outside raising slogans against Ms. Jayalalithaa. Terming it as a "direct assault" on the freedom of the press and "an infringement on the fundamental right to freedom of expression" as enshrined in the Constitution, they demanded immediate withdrawal of the sentence. Among the protesters were eminent and senior journalists, including Kuldip Nayar, H.K.Dua, S. Nihal Singh, K.K. Katyal, Alok Mehta and Mrinal Pande.

After burning the effigy, the journalists squatted on the road, blocking vehicular movement on the busy thoroughfare for a brief while.

The scene then shifted to inside the PCI premises where a protest meeting was held. Addressing the large gathering, veteran journalist and former High Commissioner to Britain, Kuldip Nayar, termed it as a "direct attack" on the press of the country. "We should not keep quite.

Today it is The Hindu and tomorrow it could be anyone else," he said. Mr. Nayar informed the meeting that the former Delhi High Court Chief Justice, Rajinder Sachar, today filed a habeas corpus petition on his behalf seeking protection for the journalists against whom arrest warrants have been issued. The petition was filed at the residence of the Chief Justice, V. N. Khare.

Mr. Nayar wondered why leaders of the Central Government had remained silent. "At least those who were victims of the Emergency should speak out against this action."

Describing it as "autocratic", the Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune, H. K. Dua, said: "It is not an attack on The Hindu alone. It is an attack on the entire press. We all should unite to defeat this." Calling for immediate action to protect the freedom of press, the Editor of Hindi Hindustan, Mrinal Pande, said: "We never expected such a behaviour from a woman in power. If the Government could attack a respected newspaper like The Hindu, one wonders what kind of time we are heading for."

Among others who spoke included the Consulting Editor of The Hindu, K.K.Katyal, veteran journalist, S. Nihal Singh, and the Outlook (Hindi) Editor, Alok Mehta.

The meeting passed a resolution expressing outrage at the Tamil Nadu Assembly's decision and described it as a "gross abuse of legislative power".

It called upon the Assembly to immediately "withdraw the draconian convictions". Also, it demanded stern action against the police officials responsible for intimidating the family members of the journalists.

A copy of the resolution was then sent to the Tamil Nadu Resident Commissioner in Delhi.

Pledging not to keep quiet till freedom of the press in the State was restored, journalists at the meeting also decided to hold a protest march to Tamil Nadu House here on Monday as part of the sustained campaign against the sentence.

Meanwhile, a large number of activists of the Youth Congress today staged a dharna at Tamil Nadu House.

In a release it said that "this is a direct attack on the freedom of press".

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