Case against Asianet News reporter: Malayalam media stand in solidarity with Akhila Nandakumar
By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Jun 13, 2023, 11:30 AM ISTCase against Asianet News reporter: The leading Malayalam media has come forward to express their support for reporter Akhil Nandakumar and hit out at the ruling communist party in Kerala. Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam and Kerala Kaumudi showed their solidarity against the suppression of media voices by the government.
Thiruvananthapuram: There is widespread condemnation of the Kerala Police action against Asianet News chief reporter in Kochi, Akhila Nandakumar, for merely reporting on the mark list controversy in Maharaja's College.
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The Opposition and other parties have lambasted the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) for its bizarre action and suppression of media power.
Now, the media world has come forward to express solidarity with Akhila Nandakumar against the police fake case. Malayalam media including Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam and Kerala Kaumudi came to the forefront criticizing the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF's action.
The front page of the Malayala Manorama highlighted that 'This is not China or North Korea. The arrogance of the party secretary should be within the party.' Malayalam Manorama also observed that the case is the latest example of the growing tendency among ruling party leaders to praise the news if it is favorable to them and suppress it if otherwise.
According to Mathrubhumi, dictatorial tendencies are becoming apparent. Mathrubhumi criticised the government's anti-media stance. It expressed the opinion that it is not appropriate to penalise the media for the mistakes made by the government.
The Kerala Kaumudi editorial explained that the premise is that news reporting should be error-free. However, these days, Kerala media does not hesitate to correct errors made while attempting to break the news in the first place. Not only the media is prone to errors. The police, the party, and the government all make mistakes. Media freely apologizes after realising their mistake. These are common occurrences. To accuse a journalist of conspiring after they have covered a story, however, is not the proper line of action.
Kerala Kaumudi also said that the case against Akhila is anti-democratic.
The other day, the Telegraph newspaper strongly criticised the action against Akhila Nandakumar stating that the 'Sangh Parivar and Left are alike in threatening the media.' Other national media such as news agency ANI, Indian Express and some English online media also reported on the case.
The case pertains to the Kochi police filing an FIR based on a complaint from Students' Federation of India state secretary PM Arsho, claiming a conspiracy against him. The Kochi Police even formed a special investigation team to probe the case based on Arsho's complaint. They took the statements of the first two accused, Maharaja's College Principal V S Joy and Department of Archeology head Dr Vinod Kumar. They allegedly testified that the mark list controversy against the SFI state secretary was only a technical glitch and there was no conspiracy.
The Kochi Police's action to include the Asianet News chief reporter as one of the accused in the alleged conspiracy case has sparked a wave of condemnation.
At the same time, the demand to withdraw the case against Akhila Nandakumar is getting stronger.
Also read: Case against Asianet news reporter: CPI(M) defends Kerala Police action
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