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National

“No going back on Ketkar case”

Special Correspondent

R.R. Patil takes firm stand; coalition partners NCP and Congress at loggerheads

Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar’s house was attacked on June 5
Assailants were protesting against a reference to Shivaji in the editorial

MUMBAI: Nine persons were taken into custody in connection with the attack on Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar’s house and there was no question of going back on the case, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil told reporters on Thursday.

Police were investigating the case against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) former MLC Vinayak Mete, alleged to be the mastermind behind the attack, said Mr. Patil, who himself belongs to the NCP.

Mr. Mete told his followers to launch an agitation against the article in Loksatta, but never ordered an attack on Ketkars house, Mr Patil clarified. The issue appears to have become an irritant in the relationship between the NCP and the Congress, partners in the ruling coalition. Congress spokesperson Hussein Dalwai told journalists on Wednesday that the NCP was dragging its feet on the issue and this was causing unrest among his party’s rank and file. When asked for his reaction, Mr. Patil was sarcastic. Since the Congress consisted of sadhus and saints, right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, he could not comment on the issue, he said.

The NCP issued a show cause notice to Mr. Mete on June 6. State NCP president Arun Gujarathi said that Mr. Mete would have to explain within seven days and action against him would be decided after that.

The Mete issue came up at the Congress party press conference too. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Prabha Rau told reporters that if a man like Kumar Ketkar could be attacked, no one was safe. She said those who used the name of the Congress should at least display some “Congress-like traits.”

The issue comes at a time when both the NCP and the Congress are in poll mode.

Scribes to meet Jamir

A delegation of journalists will meet Maharashtra Governor S.C. Jamir to demand the arrest of those behind the attack on Mr. Ketkar’s house within seven days. Journalists will also write to the Centre demanding its intervention.

Chairperson of Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists (BUJ) Neelkanth Paratkar announced the decisions at a meeting here on Thursday to raise a collective voice against the attack and the sedition charge filed against The Times of India by the Gujarat police.

Kalpana Sharma, former journalist of The Hindu, rued that the society had lost its sense of humour and the media had not investigated the incidents enough.

Prominent theatre personality Alyque Padamsee called for a plan of action to combat “mobocracy.” He suggested forming a special squad for the protection of the media and an alarm system to alert the police of an attack.

Teesta Setalvad, activist and former journalist, referred to the self-censorship in the media which left very little space for raising questions on social and economic issues. Criticising the electronic media’s appetite for sensationalism, she said that it had not given as much coverage to cases of assault on the media as it had to the recent murder cases.

Veteran journalist Nandakishore Nautiyal said that the political establishment was using hooliganism to cripple the fourth leg of our democracy.

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