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Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

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National

Malayalam newspaper offices attacked

By Our Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE, JULY 28. The Kozhikode offices of the Malayalam newspapers, Malayala Manorama and Chandrika, the latter aligned with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), were damaged in violent incidents today though ban orders under the Police Act to prevent unlawful assembly and carrying of arms were in force in the city.

The ban orders were in force from 4 a.m. today because the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) had decided to take out a march to the office of the Inspector-General of Police here protesting against alleged police excesses, in the context of protests against the State Government's education policy and specifically the circumstances that led to the suicide of an engineering college student in Thiruvananthapuram last week.

The attack on the Malayala Manorama office came shortly after the State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Pinarai Vijayan, had finished addressing the demonstrators near the English Church.

DYFI role denied

The CPI(M) district secretariat denied that any DYFI cadres were behind the attack and alleged that the attack on the Malayala Manorama office was organised to show DYFI cadres in poor light.

The CPI(M) district secretary, V.V. Dakshinamoorthy, blamed police passivity for the incidents. Attacks on newspapers were inexcusable, he said, and demanded action to nab the culprits.

The damage in stone-throwing was particularly heavy at the Malayala Manorama office. A glass door at the entrance broke into several pieces after it was pounded by flying stones. Flowerpots were smashed. Lights on the lawns were broken. A motorcycle parked in front of the office was damaged.

Witnesses said the attack was first directed against a small group of policemen on duty near the Malayala Manorama office. They were forced to retreat in the face of heavy stone-throwing. At the Chandrika office, windowpanes on the first floor of the building housing the weekly periodical section as well as of the generator room broke.

Editors Guild condemns

Our New Delhi Special Correspondent reports:

The Editors Guild of India condemned the "dastardly and macabre attack on the office of Malayala Manorama.'' In a statement here, the Guild said: "The intolerance shown by DYFI towards media organisations in Kerala, especially Malayala Manorama, is highly deplorable.'' It urged the CPI(M) to direct the DYFI to desist from violent methods.

The Guild also urged the Central and State Governments to take immediately action against the culprits responsible for this attempt to intimidate media organisations and ensure that such lawless actions were not repeated.

UNI reports:

The Indian Newspaper Society president, M.P. Veerendra Kumar, said, ``Vandalism on newspaper organisations cannot be tolerated at any cost.''

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