Date:08/11/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/11/08/stories/2003110809281100.htm

National

'Yet another attempt to fetter press'

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD Nov. 7. The Tamil Nadu Assembly's action in awarding simple imprisonment of 15 days to the Editor and four others of The Hindu has come in for sharp criticism from newspaper editors and senior journalists here on Friday.

In a joint statement, the IJU secretary-general, K. Sreenivasa Reddy, and the APUWJ president, Devulapally Amar, described the development as "yet another attempt by the AIADMK Government in Tamil Nadu to fetter the freedom of the press". Whoever had committed such acts against the press in the past had come to grief sooner or later, they said.

A.B.K. Prasad, Editor-in-Chief, Andhra Prabha, said, "We have to fight it. Let us suffer jail sentence but not give up. It is nothing but a legacy of the House of Commons. The privileges of a legislator have not been specified by Parliament so far, but we are blindly following the colonial legacy. That is why our fight has been to get it specified. Today's developments have brought the issue into sharper focus. The Supreme Court should take cognisance of this aspect".

K. Ramachandra Murthy, Editor, Andhra Jyothi, said, "It is highly reprehensible. We condemn it in unequivocal terms. The press and the legislature should respect each other. A privilege motion cannot be used as a weapon to weaken and silence the press. When journalists write, they do so in good faith and if objections are raised for every report, it would be setting a bad precedent."

Ch. Ramoji Rao, Editor-in-Chief, Eenadu Group of Publications, said, "It is very serious. It is an attack on the freedom of the press. It is a battle not just of The Hindu alone. It concerns the entire media, including the electronic media. The battle cannot stop here".