Case against Asianet News Reporter: 140 eminent persons sign petition seeking Press Freedom
By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Jun 17, 2023, 7:55 PM ISTCase against Asianet News Reporter: In a joint statement, 137 cultural figures called for an immediate end to the Kerala Police's actions against Asianet News reporters Akhila Nandakumar, Abjod Varghese, and Malayalam Manorama (Kollam) Special Correspondent Jayachandran Ilankat.
Prominent figures from the fields of social, cultural, literature, and the media are denouncing the state government's media snooping. Cultural leaders commented that it is incredibly anti-democratic and a denial of press freedom to prosecute journalists for reading and reporting the news and then demand that they come to the police station for questioning.
In a joint statement, 137 cultural figures called for an immediate end to the Kerala Police's actions against Asianet News reporters Akhila Nandakumar, Abjod Varghese, and Malayalam Manorama (Kollam) Special Correspondent Jayachandran Ilankat, who looked into and exposed corruption at the Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited.
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The statements made by Kerala's ministers and leaders of the ruling party in support of the police action have Kerala's democratic civil society highly concerned. Ironically, those who frequently criticise the Central Government for using investigative agencies against journalists are the same ones who pose a threat to press freedom in the state they control. In India, both the government and the corporate media outlets themselves are obstructing press freedom in different ways. In the Global Media Freedom Index, India has dropped to position 161 out of 180 nations.
In addition to being a concern for journalists, freedom of the press is essential to a democratic society and constitutional civil rights. Because of this, the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed through rulings on the constitutional interpretation that even though the Constitution doesn't explicitly mention press freedom, it is included in the fundamental right to guarantee freedom of expression and that media professionals cannot be coerced into disclosing the news's source.
It is quite undesirable that the state officials are functioning as reinforcing the same inclinations in Kerala rather than attempting to mobilize the civil society to effectively resist the totalitarian tendencies displayed by the central rulers. In order to stop the police from taking action against the journalists, we ask the Kerala civil society to launch a vigorous protest, according to the statement.
Signatories to the statement:
B.R.P Bhaskar (Senior Journalist)
KG Sankarapillai (Poet)
C. Radhakrishnan (Novelist, Storyteller)
B Rajeevan (Writer)
Dr. M. Kunjaman (Economist)
K. Ajitha (Researcher)
MN Karassery (Writer)
Dr. EV Ramakrishnan ( (Writer)
K.C. Narayanan (Journalist)
MG Radhakrishnan (Journalist)
MP Surendran (Journalist)
Shihabuddin Poithumkadav.
Unni Balakrishnan (Journalist)
Kalpatta Narayan (Writer)
P. Surendran (Writer)
NP Chekutty (Media Worker)
UK Kumaran (Storyteller, Novelist)
Veeran Kutty (Poet)
Anwar Ali (Poet)
CR Neelakandan (Social Worker)
M.Geethanandan (Social Worker)
Dr. PK Poker (Writer)
Sebastian (Poet)
Savitri Rajeevan (Poet)
J. Devika (Writer, Researcher)
Dr. K.T. Rammohan (Economist)
Chandramati (Writer) Sajitha Shankar (Artist)
Karunakaran (Storyteller)
Prasanna Rajan (Critic)
VS Anilkumar (Narrator)
Dr. Azad (writer)
Dr. S. Physi
G Devarajan
Dr. K. M. Sheeba
K.C. Umesh Babu (Poet)
Damodara Prasad (Writer)
N. Subramanian (Social Worker)
C. Anoop (Narrator)
CS Venkateswaran (Writer)
S. Rajeev
Anil. EP
Pramod Puzhankara
Jolly Chirayat
Sreedhar Radhakrishnan
Rajan Cherukad (Journalist)
N Sreejith (Journalist)
Ravi Shankar KV (Journalist)
Prof. Kusumam Joseph
Mangad Ratnakaran (Media Worker)
P.P. Sathyan (Journalist)
Dr. V. Vijayakumar (Writer)
Muzaffar Ahmed (journalist)
Jyothi Narayan
M. Sulphath
Adv. Bhadra Kumari
K. Haridas (Writer)
Adv.Rama K.M.
K Murali
Jayaraj C.N
Dr. KN Ajoy Kumar
Prathapan
CS Murali Shankar
Adv. Saji Cheraman
Sajeev Anthikkad
Purushan Eloor
Vinod Chandran
PK Srinivasan (Journalist)
Shiburaj (Media Worker)
Priyadas G Mangalat
TK Vinodan
PC Jocy (Publisher)
Jagadish Babu (Journalist)
Sudheesh Raghavan (Novelist)
KK Surendran
Sajeev Anthikkad
K. Santosh Kumar
Robin Kerala
Sarath Chelur
KG Jagadeesan
I. Gopinath
Vijayaraghavan Cheliya
Dr. Prasad
T. Narayanan Vattoli
Dr. E Unnikrishnan
Adv.Vinod Payyada
Izabin Abdul Karim
Kabir Shah
Dr. Sugathan (Delhi)
P.M. Narayanan (Reporter German TV)
Ashok Kumar
Rajagopal
G. Dileepan (Writer)
Pradeep Panangad (Writer)
K.M. Venugopal
Jamsheena Mullapat (Journalist)
C.P. Rasheed
Dr. E Unnikrishnan
AJ Thomas (Poet)
Prembabu
Dr. Prince K.J.
Rajeev Kumar.K.
Jayghosh M.B
Subin
Shaji K.V. (Right to Information Association)
Adv Chandrasenan
Libin Thattapalli
Prasad Somarajan
P.K. Priyesh Kumar
Wilfred KP (Artist)
Adv. Shiju
Venugopal (Writer)
Praveen Pilassery
Adam Ayub
Harris Abu
Pradeep Kulangara
Mini Mohan
Indira Dilipan
Ashok
K.K. Sudev
Udayakumar
Sherin Varghese
Kutty Musa K.M.
Renson
Adv.NM Siddique
Padmakumar
Anees George
Kochumon
Raghukumar
Parameshwar
P.T. Vijayan
Jose Mathew.
Prashant M Prabhakaran
Sunil Kochi
PV Zanu
Zubair Sayeed
Alby
Haridas. T
Mathew Kottiyur
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