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T.N. Assembly sentences The Hindu Editor, 4 others for 'breach of privilege'
By G. Ananthakrishnan and T. Ramakrishnan
Deputy Commissioner of Police R. Chinnaraj and Assistant Commissioner of Police R. Shanmugam of the Chennai City Police, who came to the offices of The Hindu a second time on Friday night on a search and arrest mission, with N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, in the newsroom.
The House also sentenced S. Selvam, Editor of Murasoli, the DMK party newspaper, on the same count.
About 30 minutes after the Assembly passed its order this evening, police jeeps carrying about two dozen policemen, some of them in riot gear, arrived at the head office of The Hindu here.
The personnel, including policewomen and plainclothesmen, spread out in front of the building, parking their vehicles in the space meant for visitors. Some of them went up to the first floor and intimidated the staff and asked them to unlock the room of the Editor, N. Ravi.
A short while later, the Editor-in-Chief, N. Ram, came out and wanted to meet the officer in charge. As none of them responded, he moved to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, R. Chinnaraj, who was standing in a corner with a junior officer and introduced himself. "I am the Editor-in-Chief," Mr. Ram said and enquired about the purpose of their visit. Mr. Chinnaraj asked him whether Mr. Ravi and the Executive Editor, Malini Parthasarathy, were present.
Mr. Ram said they were not there. When he asked the police on what authority they entered the premises, and if they had any papers, they turned tail. The half a dozen jeeps also rolled out as silently as they had come in, while the uniformed personnel melted away. Television crews had started arriving at the scene, hearing of the police entry into the offices of The Hindu and Mr. Ram made a statement condemning the police action as an assault on the freedom of the press.
"What were they doing here? They just hung around here. They would not come and face us. When I asked them under what authority they entered the premises, they left without any explanation," Mr. Ram said.
But the police action was to be repeated a short while later, this time in the full glare of the media. At about 8.30 p.m., the police personnel headed by Mr. Chinnaraj returned and made their way to the first floor visitors' area without any explanation. An army of television cameras and photographers ran behind them.
Officers of The Hindu then escorted them to the editorial hall on the first floor to meet Mr. Ram. At the editorial hall, the Editor-in-Chief wondered why the police were making a scene, coming inside a newspaper office with so many men. "You have so many people here," Mr. Chinnaraj said pointing to editorial staff who were at work on the day's edition.
When the police personnel wanted to bring in a police video cameraman, Mr. Ram invited all the mediapersons to the hall. He took Mr. Chinnaraj and the other officer into the news editor's cabin and spoke to them in private. The scene was recorded through the glass panels by numerous television cameras.
A few minutes later, the Editor-in-Chief emerged and said the police had come to search the rooms of the Publisher, S. Rangarajan, the Editor and the Executive Editor to see if they were there. They said they had the papers to do so, but showed only one warrant. The police officers insisted on the search, despite his word that they were not there. Followed by a battery of television cameras and photographers, the two officers were then taken to the rooms.
Slogans against police
As the police personnel came to the portico and stood in the lobby, a large group of employees shouted: "Down with police atrocities." Mr. Ram then appealed to them to make way for the Deputy Commissioner and others to leave the premises as they had come stating that they were only doing their duty. They were then escorted out by senior executives of the newspaper, even as the slogans condemning "police raj" and "police atrocities" continued. As Mr. Chinnaraj's car left the premises, the protesters continued to raise slogans in support of free speech and press freedom, and condemned attempts to create a police state.
Talking to the media, Mr. Ram said that "this might not be the first case of attack on the freedom of the press, but this is certainly the worst."
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