People's Democracy

THE Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has strongly condemned as "ominous and blatant" the attempts made by the government, through its external affairs ministry, to dictate to the press what it should or should not do while reporting Gujarat. It also noted with concern the special attempts being made to target the press in Delhi.

A press statement issued on April 23 by DUJ president S K Pande condemned the external affairs ministry’s effort on April 22 to prescribe a "Laxman Rekha…..of patriotism for the Indian media whose coverage of the Gujarat carnage would otherwise seem to have offered the only ray of hope amidst the gathering clouds of religious hatred."

It will be noted that speaking on behalf of a government whose bonafides in dealing with the weeks of sustained violence have become suspect, MEA spokesperson Nirupama Rao reprimanded foreign dignitaries for what she called their "utilisation of the Indian media" to express their views on Gujarat.

The DUJ statement charged that the comment contained a thinly veiled threat to the Indian media that they should refrain from interviewing people who are critical of the Indian government’s approach towards the continuing murderous assaults on select groups in Gujarat. (INN)