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| Monday, 10 November 2003 |
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Political leaders condemn move to jail journalists TAMIL NADU, Sunday (AFP) Indian political leaders condemned a state government for handing six journalists 15-day jail terms and sending police to a top daily paper over critical news coverage. The assembly in the southern state of Tamil Nadu ordered the jail terms against journalists of The Hindu after the newspaper said the provincial government showed "rising intolerance" towards political opponents. After the assembly vote, more than 20 police entered The Hindu's headquarters in the state capital Madras, but an editor told them he would not let them search without a warrant, newspaper staff said. Police returned with a warrant and examined the offices of top editors, but did not make any arrests. The six journalists apparently went into hiding. Later on Saturday, the Supreme Court said it would hear on Monday the petition of the journalists demanding a nullification of the arrest orders. The assembly ordered 15 days in jail for The Hindu's publisher S. Rangarajan, editor N. Ravi, executive editor Malini Parthasarathy, associate editor and Tamil Nadu bureau chief V. Jayanth and special correspondent Radha Venkatesan. It gave the same sentence to S. Selvam, editor of the Tamil-language daily Murasoli which is close to the state's main opposition party, for publishing a translation of an editorial in The Hindu. It said the six were guilty of "breach of privilege" for articles and an editorial about Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram's government. The Hindu had written that the government made "crude use of state power" by arresting a leading political opponent and allegedly harassing independent media. In a rare agreement, India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress party both said the Tamil Nadu authorities acted improperly. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said he was "pained" by the assembly's moves, which BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said could "weaken democracy and therefore need to be withdrawn". "We as responsible persons in public life and representatives of the people are expected to be liberal about criticism," Naidu told reporters in New Delhi. India's main communist party termed the assembly action a "gross misuse of legislative privilege". President of the main opposition Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, said she was extremely disturbed by the attempt to curb press freedom in Tamil Nadu. "Such high-handed action by the state legislature is a threat to our democracy." Media groups across India expressed outrage at the sentence, with a journalists union in Tamil Nadu planning a one-day protest fast Sunday. Street protests were also observed by journalists in New Delhi. The Hindu's editor-in-chief N. Ram told reporters in southern Bangalore city that the newspaper would seek a court stay on the jail sentences. |
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