Today (May 3) is World Press Freedom Day. On this occasion, Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar extended greetings to the media fraternity
Bengaluru: Today (May 3) is World Press Freedom Day. On this occasion, Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar extended greetings to the media fraternity. Taking to Twitter, he said that media "has the power to inform and enlighten people". He further said that media enjoy "absolute freedom" in India.
He also sent out a warning to those who strive hard to portray bad picture about freedom of press in India.
He said on this twitter account, “Media has the power to inform and enlighten people. Media in India enjoy absolute freedom. We will expose, sooner than later, those surveys that tend to portray bad picture about "Freedom of Press" in
India.#WorldPressFreedomDay
Media has the power to inform and enlighten people. Media in India enjoy absolute freedom. We will expose, sooner than later, those surveys that tend to portray bad picture about "Freedom of Press" in India.
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar)
Indian media enjoys press freedom to a great extent. However, it is the Congress that has tried muzzling the freedom of Indian press for a long time. It is pertinent to note that during Emergency, the freedom of the press had been curtailed to a great extent.
From that day to the present day, the Congress has consistently hounded the press for its independence. The latest episode of such targeting of journalists was how Republic TV owner Arnab Goswamy was harassed and hounded for seeking Sonia Gandhi’s condemnation of Palghar lynching of two Hindu saints and their driver.
As many as 200 FIRs were filed against Arnab Goswamy across India with an intention to intimidate and browbeat him.
Fortunately, it was the Supreme Court that quashed all except one FIR and stayed his arrest for three weeks.
The investigation is still going on, with Arnab being quizzed for more than 12 hours. Interestingly, even terror accused have not been questioned for that long a time period.
It is also interesting to note that it was Congress’s Kapil Sibal who introduced section 66A of the IT Act to target those who use satires to keep politicians under check.
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