Many long-time readers of The Hindu have accused the daily of tilting towards the Communist Party of India (Marxist) since N. Ram became the Editor-in-Chief. A report appearing in today’s edition shows the party has the ability to plant a story in this venerable newspaper.
The report, headlined “Krishna Iyer for debate on Central, State police process”, is based on an interview with former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer. The report has no dateline. Nor does it have a creditline. The absence of attribution suggests that the report was not received from any correspondent of the paper or from any news agency to which it subscribes.
The report identifies the interviewer as P. Rajeev, a leftist journalist.
P. Rajeev is a young CPI (M) leader and Resident Editor of the Malayalam daily, Deshabhimani, which is an official organ of the party.
Rajeev’s report of the interview appeared in Deshabhimani only today. Evidently it was made available to The Hindu before its publication in Deshabhimani.
The interview report quoted Krishna Iyer as saying, “I feel that the time has come for a national debate on the creation, operation and control of the Central and State police process. I express this view because I find so much of hot controversy over the Lavlin issue where Sri. Pinarayi Vijayan’s name is being made the subject of political imputations.” (Italics added)
Rajeev interviewed Krishna Iyer after the party launched a campaign accusing the Central Bureau of Investigation of implicating Pinarayi Vijayan, who is a member of the CPI (M) Politburo and Secretary of its State Committee, in the SNC Lavalin case as reprisal for withdrawal of the party’s support to the United Progressive Alliance.
Deshabhimani featured it as the lead story.
According to Malayalam news channels, Krishna Iyer said in a statement today that his remarks were capable of misinterpretation to suit the needs of some political leaders.
While reiterating his stand that investigations must be truthful, he said he believed an offender, howsoever high, must not escape punishment and an innocent person must not be penalized.
For more on the Lavalin case, please see my commentary "Lavalin developing into CPI-M's Bofors", distributed by Indo Asian News Service.
POSTSCRIPT: Justice Krishna Iyer's revised statement, referred to above, appears in The Hindu's edition dated January 26 under the heading "Investigating agencies must enjoy immunity and independence, says Krishna Iyer". It carries a Kochi dateline and is credited to the paper's Special Correspondent.
3 comments:
krishna iyer, ram's hindu, deshabhimani,cpi(m)--it is all the same. if anything, iyer is the more comib; he will put out what will sell well in the statement market. who says what he sets is a moral parameter? for all his moralistic posturing, he will not say any public man who is arraigned by an established arm of the law should get out and come back only when his name is cleared,if at all? that goes, i will argue,for party positions as well. that accredited troupe of cultural oracles who who comes up with a mass communique whenever it has to debunk a chosen class enemy is inevitably silent now. well,not silent,pu ka sa has resolved to resist the move against the great comrade through what may well be a cultural revolution. these jokers make life boring.
So you find it annoying to have such an article published in The Hindu? I don't see a problem and bias that you referred on your blog. It is silly to call 'The Hindu' by whatever attribute you mentioned. The credibility of that newspaper is well know and beyond your personal preference. Their reporting didn't change after N.Rams ed-in-chief move. N.Ram was very much with the paper much before. N.Ram may have a political leaning, but that has not reflected in their reporting. They report facts and not sensationalism as many of your favourite papers (and the ones of your liking) often report
It is an attempt to malign N.Ram,
editor-in-cheif of the Hindu,one of
few English newspapers which has a
credibility and is respected news
papers.
The two largest circulated dailies
are gutter newspapers.CPI(M) never
plants journalists in newspapers
unlike BJP and Its sister concern
Congress.
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