Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Azhikode deplores curbs on media

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 21. By imposing curbs on the media in the name of ensuring dignity of the House, the Speaker, Vakkom B. Purushothaman, is questioning the dignity of the legislators, the noted social critic, Sukumar Azhikode, has said.

Inaugurating a seminar on `Media rights' organised by the Kerala Journalists Union here today, Prof. Azhikode said it was the duty of the Speaker to control the MLAs on the floor of the Assembly and if he could not discharge his duties effectively he should quit.

Transparency was the hallmark of democracy and it would only help improve the performance of legislators. There was nothing to hide about the performance of MLAs inside the House, he said.

Rules in a democracy were aimed at improving the lives of the people and not to penalise them. He urged the Speaker to be open to suggestions. The issue was not confined to the media or the State alone. It had much more ramifications as it affected the public, he said.

By gagging their mouth while attending the Cabinet briefing of the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, the presspersons were resorting to the most non-violent means of agitation.

Mr. Antony should learn to take issues more lightly, he said.

The former MP, Sebastian Paul, said that guidelines were not imposed by the Speaker alone.

The statements of Mr. Antony, the Information Minister, M. M. Hassan, and the Congress MLA, Aryadan Mohammed, were enough proof that there was a well-though-out plan behind the controls initiated by the Speaker, he said.

Mr. Antony cannot plead helplessness on the issue, Dr. Paul said.

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