AICC attempts to gag media

Journalists are not terrorists. The
deeds of India's fourth estate are
indisputable. Nobody can imagine
a world without the media. Even
today, the media face threats and
challenges.
In India, we have freedom of the
press. But some incidents have
directly affected this freedom.
All India Congress Committee
(AICC) meeting was held at
Talkatora indoor stadium at New
Delhi on the 17th of this month.
Media persons could not enter the
venue because of extreme security.
At the same time, news broke
about the arrest of the terrorists
who plotted to hijack Rahul
Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
When the security guards got this
information they allowed nobody
to enter the stadium. The day
before the meeting AICC had
announced that everybody should
enter the meeting hall before
6.30am on the scheduled day.
AICC's media secretary Veerappa
Moily and Tom Vadakan
approached the securities to give
permission to the media persons to
enter the hall. But the securities
were very adamant. All the
journalists protested against this.
The journalists were treated like
terrorists even after they showed
their press card.
This is the first incident of its
kind in the history of an AICC
meeting. How can India claim that
our security is flawless? If a
terrorist group really wanted to
sabotage the Talkatora indoor
stadium on that day, it would not
have been very difficult for them.
The 13 December 2001 Parliament
attack and the repeated blasts in
Hyderabad on 25 August 2007 only
prove the ease with which such
operations can be conducted. After
all how can the security personnel
argue that the presence of
journalists would affect safety
measures? If the Prime Minister
would go late to a meeting how
would the securities treat him?
India is a democratic country.
Everybody is entitled to enjoy the
freedom that comes with it. Yet,
journalists face atrocities. The
repercussions of this incident
would be very high. The AICC
meeting is over but who will take
the responsibility for the freedom
denied to the press of a democratic
nation? Who has more power in
AICC-the committee members or
the security personnel? Who are
the real culprits?
It is dubious whether the action
against the journalists was preplanned
or not. Nowadays the
assaults against journalists
especially from the politicians, are
rising. This misbehavior reveals
the degrading values of Indian
society. Media is for the public and
not for the politicians. By telling
the truth journalists do a service to
the society.
In other words, it is high time to
think about the values of
journalism and politics.