Case against Asianet News reporter: Kerala's Left government puts fascism to shame, says Congress
Maharaja's mark list controversy: Congress slams Kerala Police action of filing a case against Asianet News Chief Reporter Akhila Nandakumar over a complaint filed by Left-backed SFI state secretary P M Arsho. Congress leader KC Venugopal termed the police action as unacceptable.
FollowPolitical outrage over the Kerala Police action of filing a case against Asianet News Chief Reporter Akhila Nandakumar for merely reporting on the mark list case has grown with the Congress claiming that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front government's actions "put fascism to shame".
Case against Asianet News reporter: Champions of free speech have shown their true colour, says BJP
In a post on Facebook, the Rajya Sabha member and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said: "It is a fascist era in Kerala now. If news is reported against the government or Communist Party of India-Marxist they will be charged with conspiracy and silenced. The unusual action of the police, who registered a case against Asianet News Chief Reporter Akhila Nandakumar, who went to report honestly on the Maharaja's College mark list controversy, is anti-democratic."
Stating that the Freedom of Speech and Expression is an inalienable part of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, Venugopal said: "Fascist practices by the BJP, including bans on dissenters and raids by investigative agencies, have seen India's rank plummet to 161st in this year's World Press Freedom Index. In 2022, it was ranked 150th. India is also on the list of 31 countries where the situation of journalists is very serious. The Pinarayi Vijayan administration, on the other hand, is encroaching on the freedom of the media by adopting the same model while the democrats are putting up a strong resistance to keep the freedom of the media intact in the country."
The Congress leader said that the government's encroachment on media freedom in Kerala is highly condemnable.
"Pinarayi Vijayan, who is trying to lock up journalists who are exposing the deviant practices of CPIM, is a total fascist. This encroachment on the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution is totally unacceptable. The communist regime, which is taking to the streets and doing lip exercise for media freedom, and the CPI(M), which leads it, have exposed their double standard by confronting the media and journalists in Kerala in this way." he said.
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