BURMA/MYANMAR: Journalists get ten years jail for writing on army

Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 6:48 AM
AHRC on conviction of journalists
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that four journalists who wrote an investigative article about an army facility in Burma have been sentenced to ten years in jail, along with their editor. The conviction is clearly intended to intimidate the print media in Burma, or Myanmar, at a time that the country is supposedly democratizing. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

As we wrote in the original urgent appeal (AHRC-UAC-066-2014) the Unity Journal on 25 January 2014 published an article alleging that a military facility in Magway Region was being used for the making of chemical weapons. The officer responsible for the factory then brought a criminal case against the journal director and reporters for allegedly breaching state secrets, taking photographs of the facility without permission, and publishing the article without first obtaining approval. 

Despite the many obvious flaws in the case brought against the men, set out in that appeal, on July 10 a judge sentenced all five of them to ten years in jail. Observers to the trial have pointed out that throughout the court favoured the prosecution side, hearing 29 of its witnesses against only six for the defence, and that in its characteristics the court process was not significantly different from the period of direct military dictatorship. 

Further details of the case are in the sample letter below.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Despite the changed political conditions in Myanmar, still many journalists and writers are facing legal actions for doing nothing other than exercising their right to free expression. For instance, Ma Khine, a journalist with Eleven Media, was sentenced to jail over a story of alleged judicial corruption by accusing her of interfering with the duties of public service personnel. She served her full prison term. Journalist with the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) Ko Zaw Phay and parents of school children who tried to get information on choosing scholarship awards to go to Japan from the Magway Regional Education Office also were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment. And currently another four journalists from the Mondi news journal are facing charges over their reporting. Therefore, the Unity case is part of a larger project to intimidate and delimit the print media, which at present is the only independent media in Burma, since the broadcast media remains under direct control of the government in the case of television, or in the case of radio is either under directly control or closely monitored. 

REQUESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter condemning the men’s conviction and to call for their urgent release through the reversal of convictions. Please note that for the purposes of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name, Myanmar. 

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar and on the independence of judges and lawyers, and to the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia calling for interventions into this case.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear …………….,

MYANMAR: Executive Director and Journalists of the Unity Journal given ten years jail for alleged leaking of state secrets

Names of persons being prosecuted: 
1. U Tint San aged 52 (Son of U Thein Tun), Executive Director of Unity Journal
2. Thae Yazar Oo aged 28 (Son of U Thein Maung Gyi), Senior Journalist
3. Paing Thet Kyaw (a.k.a.) Aung Thu Ya aged 25 (Son of U Aung Ko Lwin), Senior Journalist 
4. Si Thu Soe aged 22 (Son of U Win Hlaing), Senior Journalist
5. Lu Maw Naing (a.k.a.) Lin Kyaw Oo (a.k.a.) Lu Maw aged 28 (Son of U Maung Maung Kyi), Journalist for rural areas

Names of persons involved in prosecution:
1. Lt-Colonel Kyaw Kyaw Oo, Serial No. Kyi/28299, No. 24 Defence Material Factory, Myar Pine Village Tract, Pauk Township, Magway Region

Criminal Case: No. 4/2014, Pakkoku District Court, Judge U Maung Maung Htay presiding, all five accused sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with labour on 10 July 2014, accused 1-4 under section 3(1)(a) the Burma Official Secrets Act 1923, and accused 5 under sections 3(2)(a)/9. 

I condemn the sentencing of four journalists and a news editor to ten years in prison each under an antiquated law on state secrets and urge that the sentences be overturned and that they be released. 

According to the information that I have received, after the Unity Journal on 25 January 2014 published an article alleging that a military facility in Pauk Township of Magway Region was being used for the making of chemical weapons, the officer responsible for the factory, Lt-Col. Kyaw Kyaw Oo brought a criminal case against the journal director and reporters for allegedly breaching state secrets, taking photographs of the facility without permission, and publishing the article without first obtaining approval. 

On July 10 a district judge sentenced all five men to ten years in prison, one for allegedly attempting to obtain and retain official documents concerning the site, and the others on the charge under the Burma Official Secrets Act that, “If any person for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State approaches, inspects, passes over or is in the vicinity of, or enters, any prohibited place… he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend, where the offence is committed in relation to any work of defense, arsenal, naval, military or air force establishment or station, mine, minefield, factory, dockyard, camp, ship or aircraft or otherwise in relation to the naval, military or air force affairs of or in relation to any secret official code, to fourteen years…”

The many flaws in the case have already been brought to your attention. They include that the correct procedure was not followed in bringing the case; that the factory in question does not fall under the terms of the law used to convict the men; and, that three accused were allegedly forced to confess. It has also been pointed out that the men were acting in the national interest, not contrary to it, by reporting on an issue of national concern. 

In addition to the above, the case is clearly intended to threaten the media in Myanmar, and have a chilling effect on public debate. Presently the broadcast media remains under direct state control or is tightly monitored. Only the print media is able to communicate relatively freely on matters of national concern such as those that the journalists were working on in this instance. By convicting the five men, the court, acting on behalf of the military, is sending a signal that certain topics – including those that question the predominance of the army in all spheres of political and economic life, will not be tolerated. Indeed, the case is only one of a number currently going on against journalists in Myanmar. 

Therefore, I call for the reversal of these convictions and release of the five men at the earliest opportunity. I take the opportunity to note that it is not sufficient that the men be released through a presidential pardon, as have other persons in recent times, since the pardon keeps the conviction of the accused intact. These men have committed no crime. Not only do they not deserve to be in prison, but also they do not deserve to have a criminal record. Therefore, the sentences should not merely be pardoned but overturned completely. 

Lastly, it seems profoundly obvious yet necessary to add that the Burma Official Secrets Act 1923 is not up to date anymore and that it ought to be revoked or significantly amended to be made consistent with Myanmar’s new era of political and social change, and not to enable people who would prefer that the country remain stuck in the past to use it as a weapon against persons legitimately exercising the freedom of expression. 

Yours sincerely,

----------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Lt-Gen. Ko Ko
Minister for Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663
Fax: +95 67 412 439

2. U Thein Sein
President of Myanmar
President Office
Office No.18
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR

3. U Tun Tun Oo
Chief Justice
Office of the Supreme Court
Office No. 24
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145
Fax: + 95 67 404 059

4. Thura U Aung Ko
Chairman
Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee
Pythu Hluttaw Office
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR

5. U Aung Nyein
Chairman
Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee
Committee for Public Complaints and Appeals
Office of the Amyotha Hluttaw
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR

6. U Win Mra
Chairman
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
27 Pyay Road
Hlaing Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: +95-1-659 668
Fax: +95-1-659 668

7. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Chairwoman
Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee
Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Invitation to cover seminar

 Fri, Jul 11, 2014 at 3:30 PM

Ongoing conflict in Iraq – Its impact on India and world peace

Dear Madam/Sir,

The events in Iraq and other countries of the Middle East are a matter of grave concern for India and world peace.

To discuss this issue a seminar is being organized by the Indian Doctors for Peace and

Development and Social Thinkers’ Forum as per programme below:

Date: 12^th July 2014 (Saturday)

Time: 3.30pm to 4.30pm

Venue: Hotel Le Baron, Opp. PAU Gate No.2, Ferozepur Road,   Ludhiana

Sub: Ongoing conflict in Iraq – Its impact on India and world peace

Prof. Ajay Patnaik, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi will be the main speaker. His talk will be followed by discussion.

We request you to kindly cover the seminar

Implementation of Majithia Wage Board Recommendations

 Wed, May 14, 2014 at 7:11 PM

NAPM supports Struggle of Indian Express Newspapers Workers Union

New Delhi, May 14 : Indian Express Newspapers Workers Union has been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike from May 12, in front of the IE Building demanding implementation of the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board.

Majithia Board was constituted by the government of India to look into wages for the working journalists and non-journalists newspaper employees, whose recommendations were accepted by the government on October 25, 2011. This was further notified on November 11, 2011 in the Gazette of India. However, the Indian Newspaper Society, association of newspaper owners, challenged this in Supreme Court of India.

On February 7th, 2014 Chief Justice P Sathasivam on behalf of a three-member bench dismissed the contention of the INS and said the concept of ‘variable pay’ contained in the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission has been incorporated into the Wage Board recommendations to ensure that the wages of the newspaper employees are on a par with employees of other sectors. Such incorporation was made by the Majithia Wage Board after careful consideration, in order to ensure equitable treatment to employees of newspaper establishments, and it was well within its rights to do so.

Supreme Court had further ordered the owners to pay their employees the wages as revised / determined by the wage board payable from November 11, 2011, when the Government of India notified the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board. All the arrears up to March 2014 would be paid to the eligible persons in four equal instalments within a period of one year. The revised wages were to become payable from April 2014.

However, many of the newspapers have not implemented the order and forced workers to take the route of struggle.Workers of the Indian Express have been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike demanding that the recommendations of the Majithia Board are implemented as per the order of SC. However, in a clear case of contempt the Express Group Management has refused to do so.

National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) supports the struggle of the workers of Indian Express, who have come out openly and challenged the management. We have also learnt that workers in other major newspapers have also been denied their wages in accordance with the Majithia Board recommendations.

It is to be noted that the order impacts a large number of workers and their families given that India has more than 70,000 newspapers and over 690 satellite channels (more than 80 are news channels) and is the biggest newspaper market in the world - over 100 million copies sold each day.

Like in every sector today the newspaper industry employs a large number of workers on contract, making them vulnerable and taking away their right to wage a battle against the management. It is the same fear of loosing their jobs, which has prevented many to come out in open and challenge the newspaper industry. Majithia Board has made recommendations for the contractual as well as permanent staff too, which are yet to see its implementation.

NAPM supports the demand of the journalists and non-journalists who have often taken up the people's issues, at times, going against the increasing corporate control of media, thereby limiting the freedom and independence of media. We urge the management of the media houses to implement these recommendations and also demand that government take action against those who violate the labour norms and refuse to implement these recommendations.

It is extremely unfortunate that media, considered as fourth pillar of democracy, refuses to abide by the SC guidelines and also violate the rights of their own workers. It is nothing but another indication of the growing influence of the business houses and their greed for profit which is driving the media business today, pushing corporate agenda and restricting the space for people's issues.

As we stand in solidarity with the struggle of the workers of the various newspaper, we also demand them to join our struggle for a fair and independent media today, which will stand for the democratic values as enshrined in the Constitution.

Medha Patkar, Dr. Sunilam, Prafulla Samantara, Arundhati Dhuru, Gabriele Dietrich, Suniti S R, Suhas Kolhekar, Saraswati Kavula, C R Neelkandan, Kamyani Swami, Mahendra Yadav, Sister Celia, Krishnakant, Anand Mazgaonkar, Vilas Bhongade, Bhupender Singh Rawat, Vimal Bhai, Rajendra Ravi, Madhuresh Kumar, Seela M

PAKISTAN: World Press Freedom Day --

Sat, May 3, 2014 at 2:49 PM

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

57 journalists killed during the last 15 years

Courtesy photo

The United States, the United Kingdom and a delegation of the European Union on Friday called upon the Government of Pakistan to resolutely defend media freedom in the country, adding that gags on the media and attacks on journalists were not acceptable.

While marking the World Press Freedom Day today, May 3, the European Union Delegation, in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Pakistan, expressed in a statement its deep concern over the steadily deteriorating environment for media freedom in Pakistan. The EU delegation said that Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

May 3, was proclaimed World Press Freedom Day by the UN General Assembly in 1993. This year’s theme for this day, as declared by the UN, is “Media Freedom for a Better Future: Shaping the post-2015 Development Agenda”.

Amnesty International in its statement of April 30 said that journalists in Pakistan live under the constant threat of death, harassment and other violence from all sides, including the intelligence services, political parties and armed groups like the Taliban. Pakistan’s media community is effectively under siege. Journalists, in particular those covering national security issues or human rights, are targeted from all sides in a disturbing pattern of abuses carried out to silence their reporting. The spy agency has been implicated in numerous abductions, torture and killings of journalists, but no serving ISI officials has ever been held to account which effectively allows it to continue to operate beyond the reach of the law. Human rights violations against journalists by the ISI often follow a familiar pattern that starts with threatening phone calls and escalates into abductions, torture and other ill-treatment, and in some cases extrajudicial killings.

The World Press Freedom Index 2014, issued by the international non-governmental organisation “Reporters without Borders” earlier this year, termed Pakistan “..... the world’s deadliest country for media personnel”, adding that for the second year running, the Indian sub-continent is the Asian region with the biggest rise in violence for journalists. The index calls the targeted nature of the violence “the most disturbing development”. The report ranked Pakistan at the 158th position out of 180 countries.

It is evidently true, as far as the government is concerned that Pakistan is not the deadliest country in the world for journalists. They claim that dozens of media houses are operating freely and that the media has never enjoyed such freedom in its history. However, every year on average a dozen journalists are killed and many are injured by the attacks from Muslim banned organisations, extremists and secret spy agencies run by the military establishment. Many journalists have told various quarters that they would be attacked or killed by state intelligence agencies particularly by the notorious ISI. The Taliban and other Muslim fundamentalist’s organisations are operating freely and they monitor the broadcasting of every television channel and try to dictate their policies. In most cases the owners of the media houses follow their instructions. But the lives of individual journalist remain at the mercy of the militant organisations without protection even from their employers. The governments always want to remain as silent spectators as if the protection of journalists or media houses is not their responsibility.

The year 2014 started with the killing and attack on journalists. On January 1, Mr. Shan Dahar, the reporter of Abb Takk television was shot dead while filming near a pharmacy in Larkana. He had already produced one story on prescription drugs being illegally resold in the town, and was taking video of a package bearing a "not for resale" label on it shortly before he was shot dead.

On January 17, Gunmen riding on motorcycles shot dead three Express News workers on Friay after ambushing a stationary DSNG van in a busy neighbourhood of Karachi. This was the third and most lethal strike on Express Media Group and its staff in the space of five months. In two previous attacks, the main offices of Express Media Group, were targeted. The January 17’s ambush took the lives of a technician, security guard and a driver, all of whom were seated in the front of the van. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the latest attack in a live telephone call from Afghanistan to Express News.

From January 2013 to date, 17 journalists were attacked and injured either by the intelligence agencies, beaten and tortured by police or by injured by violent people while covering processions and rallies. Other journalists mentioned in the report are living under the dangling swords of life threats. The authorities were least bothered about conducting investigation in the matter except in the case of Hamid Mir, who was attacked by unknown persons while he was coming from Karachi airport during the tight security arrangements for former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.

On March 28, Raza Rumi, a prominent journalist and anchorperson from Express News channel has survived an assassination attempt but his driver was killed. He left the country as he found no security or protection from the government. The Taliban has accepted the responsibility for the attack which has given a good excuse to the government that they can not provide protection as the Taliban is beyond the reach of the law enforcement agencies including the military intelligence agencies.

On April 6, Jamshed Baghwan, Peshawar bureau chief of Express News was been targeted for the second time this year. A bag with 2.5kg of explosives was found outside his house, and on April 6, grenades were thrown at his residence. Baghwan says every day his mother and colleagues tell him to leave the country as they do not find any protection from the law enforcement agencies.

On April 19, a prominent journalist and anchorperson of Geo TV was attacked by unknown persons and he was critically injured by six bullets. He and his family members accused the ISI and its chief general Zaheerul Islam for the attempt to kill him. The military establishment, instead of, conducting inquiries against the allegations rather file a petition before the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to cancel the license of Geo TV for hurling the blame on ISI. The ISI and military establishment are using banned Muslim terrorists organisations and its paid politicians to agitate on the streets in favour of military and the ISI.

On May 2, a Geo TV News cameraman was subjected to thrashing and a bid was made to snatch his camera. Geo News cameraman Asif Kabir was going to the channel’s office located in Model Town A, Bahawalpur, Punjab, when three bike riders wearing helmets intercepted him. The three men called him a traitor and an Indian agent and assaulted him. They injured badly but no case has been filed by the local police.

During the year 2013, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) documented that 13 journalists were killed while performing their duties. 55 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in Pakistan in the last ten years, and 36 of them were deliberately targeted and murdered because of their work, says the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in its latest report. The PPF say, for every journalist who has been deliberately targeted and murdered, there are many others who have been injured, threatened and coerced into silence. Sadly, the perpetrators of violence against journalists and media workers enjoy almost absolute impunity in Pakistan. This is seriously hampering press freedom in the country.

In the country the media freedom is fragile. Journalists are being harassed or killed for doing their work, publications are being censored or shut down, and laws are being passed which criminalise free speech. This reality does not change on the Internet. Along with the jobs offered by the network, new obstacles emerge: content filtering, monitoring and suspension of Internet access, often without due regard to individuals’ fundamental rights.

The judiciary, which is always looking for the political cases to shut up the democratically elected governments by using Suou Moto actions while the government fail to control the spy agencies and its cronies for the attacks on journalists and escape from their responsibilities for the protection and suitability of the freedom of expression which is the basis of a democratic society.

The AHRC calls upon the military establishment to halt the use of coercive actions on the freedom of expression and press as if it is continued it would lead to the defeat of the military in the hands of unarmed media persons. The Government of Pakistan must ensure that all abuses committed against journalists are duly investigated and that appropriate action is taken against perpetrators while the public is provided with information on the outcome of enquiries.

The government must defend media freedom, this being an important component of the freedom of expression as defined in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and in the Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Hundreds of Congress workers join AAP in Ludhiana west

Media waited more than two hours to cover the event
All workers led by Balraj Singh Sekhon

Ludhiana: 16 March 2014: (Rector Kathuria//The Media Screen): 
Causing a big loss for the Congress party, hundreds of Congress leaders and workers led by Balraj Singh Sekhon, an old Congress leader and its former state secretary, today, joined Aam Admi Party (AAP) and vowed to support AAP candidate from Ludhiana Advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka. Media persons waited more than two hours to cover this event.
Balraj Sekhon said, “Corruption is a major concern of our country and countrymen severely suffer of this and want to get rid of it. Since Congress and other main stream parties are directly responsible for it, we should reject them and support AAP whose president Arvind Kejriwal triggered an unprecedented movement against mass level graft.”

“AAP is a new ray of hope for marginalized sections of the society. That is why, we have joined this party and we appeal to all to do so, if we want to save our country”, he said, adding that due to its anti-graft stand, Congress and BJP backed by Ambani and other corporates did not let Kejriwal remain in power.
Along with him, other senior Congress leaders namely Tejpal Prashar, former block president of the party, Jarnail Singh Cheema, Kimi Pradhan, Numberdar Gurmail Singh, Rooplal, Gujjar Singh also joined AAP besides hundreds of Congress workers.
While interacting with the new members of AAP, Phoolka said, “Where on one hand the Akali-BJP government are implementing “Gunda Raaj” in Punjab thereby frightening the people, the Congress on the other hand in the Center has adopted a pro-corporate and anti-people policies which pave the way for more corruption and reduced development for the people”.

Authors, writers’ groups denounce withdrawal of Doniger book

From the wall of Narinder Kumar Jeet who shared a link on Facebook on 15th Feb late night 

PTI
Journalist and author Siddharth Varadarajan, along with academic and author Jyotirmaya Sharma, ask Penguin to pulp their books and revert copyright.
Denouncing Penguin’s decision to withdraw US scholar Wendy Doniger’s book, authors and activists on Saturday said it is a campaign to drown all questioning voices and prepare the ground for a chauvinistic and communal presentation of history and culture.

American author Wendy Doniger (Courtesy:The Hindu)

In a statement on Saturday, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) said the “surrender” of the publisher in an out-of-court settlement, which involves the withdrawal of Prof. Doniger’s book ‘The Hindus: An Alternative History’ and the pulping of its copies, has rightly “aroused much disquiet.” 

The statement has been signed by Irfan Habib, C P Chandrasekhar, Mridula Mukherjee, M K Raina, Ram Rahman, Jayati Ghosh, Zoya Hasan among others.
“The event has, however, a still more sinister aspect. It is, clearly an early salvo in the renewed campaign to drown all questioning voices and prepare the ground for a full-fledged chauvinistic and communal presentation of our history and culture with no quarter allowed to dissenting voices,” the SAHMAT statement said.
“The next step, as some newspaper reports already suggest, is to extend the net of censorship and use government machinery, wherever available, to extend to school and college textbooks the same kind of misinformation, chauvinistic claims and denigration of other religions and cultures that we had seen during the past BJP-led regime at the centre,” it said.
“It is, therefore, necessary not only to condemn what has happened in regard to the ‘Hindus, an Alternative History’, especially the pusillanimity of the publisher, but also to redouble our vigilance in regard to what is still to come,” Sahmat said.
Meanwhile, author and journalist Siddharth Varadarajan tweeted that he along with Jyotirmaya Sharma “have asked Penguin to pulp our books and revert copyright so we can deal with any would-be bullies on our own terms.”
In his letter to Penguin, Mr. Varadarajan said he found “most unconvincing”, the statement released by the publisher that said it was taking the decision to withdraw the book as it has a moral responsibility to protect its “employees against threats and harassment“.
“As an author I no longer have the confidence that Penguin will stand by my book ‘Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy’ published by you in 2002 — in the event that some group or individual should decide to demand that it be withdrawn because they feel it violates (Section) 295,” Mr. Varadarajan said.
He asked the publisher to cancel the contract and pulp all remaining copies of his book and revert copyright for the book “so that I may freely distribute it electronically without the fear of any future arbitrary withdrawal by Penguin in the face of pressure from the sort of intellectual bullies who have managed to have their way with Prof Doniger’s book.”
Previously this week, Booker Prize winning author Arundhati Roy had written an open letter to Penguin asking it to explain “what is it that scared you so? Have you forgotten who you are? You are part of one of the oldest, grandest publishing houses in the world.”
Members of the Indian chapter of PEN international, a writers group, have also released a statement.
“Choosing to settle the matter out of court, instead of challenging an adverse judgement, narrows India’s intellectual discourse and significantly undermines freedom of expression,” said members of the PEN All-India Centre in Mumbai and the PEN Delhi Centre.
“We do not know why Penguin took the decision and expect the publisher to be transparent about the circumstances in which it made the decision, which comes at a time when Indian publishers have faced waves of threats from litigants, vigilante groups, and politicians,” it said.
It pointed out that previously author Siddharth Deb’s book “The Beautiful and The Damned” was published without its first chapter because of a lawsuit and Bloomsbury India had withdrawn from circulation Jitender Bhargava’s book, “The Descent of Air India“.
“Sahara Group is suing Tamal Bandyopadhyay, author of ’Sahara: The Untold Story.’ Foreign publishers have not distributed an English translation of ‘The Red Saree,’ a book loosely based on Sonia Gandhi’s life,” the statement said.
Stressing that they are committed to free speech and expression it said, “The removal of books from our bookshops, bookshelves, and libraries, whether through state-sanctioned censorship, private vigilante action, or publisher capitulation are all egregious violations of free speech that we shall oppose in all forms at all times.”
The Hindu News » National New Delhi, February 15, 2014

Authors, writers’ groups denounce withdrawal of Doniger book

www.thehindu.com

Journalist and author Siddharth Varadarajan, along with academic and author Jyotirmaya Sharma, ask Penguin to pulp their books and...

National Press Day 2013 observed today

15-11-2013 पर प्रकाशित

Celebrating responsible and free press: National Press Day 2013 observed today

Courtesy:INBMINISTRY

==========================================================

President’s address at the Press Council of India on the celebrations of National Press Day, New Delhi                                        16-November-2006 15:43 IST
Following is the text of President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s address at the Press Council of India on the celebrations of National Press Day, New Delhi:
Press a partner in National Missions
"Media is the medium”
I am delighted to participate in the National Press Day. I would like to greet all of you on this great occasion. Forty year is indeed a big period and definitely Indian Press would have grown in many spheres of reporting. From now, to the year 2020, is a very important period for the nation. National Press definitely has to get transformed into media of billion people and above all they have to play a vital role as a partner of India’s economic development. The combination of economic development and preservation of values system drawn from our civilizational heritage will transform India into a happy, prosperous and safe nation.

Friends, when I see you all, you are very important component of the society, I recall my experiences of visiting all the States and Union Territories, and witnessing the unique ambience of the seven hundred million people living in 600,000 villages equivalent to 200,000 Panchayat’s. What is that ambience? I call that ambience as, “A scene of sweat”. It is the farmers in the agricultural field, it is the fishermen in the rough seas, it is the worker in the industries, teachers in the schools, knowledge workers in the laboratories, knowledge and Pharma industries, health workers removing the pain at all times in healthcare institutions and many other people, who have to be always remembered by this great media community. In politics, there are two components: political politics and the other important element development politics. Most of you give importance to political politics. The nation’s important need is development politics. Your reporting in this area is essential. That is how I have selected the topic for discussion today as “Press a partner in National Missions”.

Media as a partner in national development.

Friends, I would like to share with you a few experiences that are relevant to the media today.

(a) Fellows of NVA:
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) is engaged in the capacity building activity for rural development through rural youth. The Foundation had organized a meet of the national fellows some time back. The title of “Fellow” is normally attached with the academicians, intellectuals, scientists, historians and economists. Here, the fellows I am talking about are the farmers, fishermen or craftsmen drawn from various walks of life, who can make a difference to people living in the rural ambience. Their only potential is experience and enthusiasm to serve society. 

I had met and interacted with over 140 fellows coming from different rural parts of the country. It is indeed a celebration of our rural core competence. The Foundation has really thought of an innovative scheme to recognize and train the people who are wedded to rural development and empowering them to promote rural transformation in certain areas. Particularly, I was impressed by the choice of fellows such as Mr. Anwarji of Balipara, Assam who has core competence in education, suitable for local people in areas such as literacy, sanitation and the use of ICT. Ms. Pushpa Ben of Village Sokhada, Gujarat who has the core competence in water conservation and vegetable vending; Ms. Vijyantha Raut of Nimgoan Bhogi, Maharastra who has the core competence of social work particularly in micro credit movement, Mr. Narsingh Singh from Charanwala Bajju village of Rajasthan who has the core competence in Computer education in rural areas; Mr. V. Deenadhayalan from Umbalchery village, Tamil Nadu with core competence in indigenous live stock keeping and also practicing animal healing using herbal plants. This clearly indicates the spectrum of experience of the fellows selected. I would recommend that journalists should interact with such grassroot social reformers and bring out their core competence, dedication and experience in serving rural communities, which can become a model for our youth to follow.

Friends, after I took over as President, apart from visiting States for participating in various functions, I also have interacted with students and people from rural areas wherever possible. I have also addressed the State Legislatures wherever possible. So far I have addressed 12 State Legislatures. In my addresses, the central message has been how the State can be economically developed with high Human Development Index, and how to increase the per capita income of the State? I normally give 8 to 10 missions. These missions have been developed based on the inputs from the Planning Commission, consultation with State ministries, the core competence of the State and the rural development profile of the State which are mapped to Vision 2020 targets. I would suggest that the media personnel should study, research and analyze these missions and put forth the actions and suggestions to the executives, leaders contribute to the development of the corresponding States.

b. Pro-active Media:
I would like to share with you an out-of-the box solution. After my address to the Kerala Legislative Assembly on the “Missions for Kerala’s prosperity”, there was a detailed discussion in the Kerala Assembly amongst all political parties. As you know, the media in Kerala is very alert and dynamic. They took up the mission and extended the discussion to the people and all the political leaders, inviting suggestions from all of them. I would like to share with you how Malayala Manoroma contributed to the document which I presented to the Kerala Assembly. Malayala Manoroma translated this document “Missions for Kerala’s prosperity” and ensured that it reached all the readers and various active development groups. Also the media organized six workshops, in different places in the State for discussing all the ten missions and seeking the operational problems and their solutions. In this workshop, ministers, political leaders, government functionaries and media personal participated. I also interacted with them during the concluding session through video conferencing. The media finally submitted their recommendations to the Government for implementation. This proactive step undertaken by the media shows how the media can be an effective partner in the national development. 

Friends, I am sharing this experience with you, which is very important for the media to be a partner in national missions, such as Developed India 2020, PURA and the recently sanctioned “Bharat Nirman” programme with an investment of Rs. 1,74,000 Crore to be executed in 4 years by the Government. There is another important programme, called the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme covering 200 districts. In addition, the Government has also passed an act called the “Right to Education Act’ for providing compulsory and free education to all children between 5 to 13 years. All these programmes are very important national programmes and particularly the media should take interest, highlight the positive aspects and provide solutions to difficult aspects through nationwide consultations. This will certainly make a difference in the implementation of the programme and bring smiles to the faces of our billion people. 

The economic development has got a tremendous link with the standards of ethics in the country and dynamics of globalization. Hence I will be discussing certain development goals in our country.

Now, I would like to discuss some of the innovative development programmes that need media attention, which I have come across in different parts of the country.

c.PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas):
The integrated method which will bring prosperity to rural India is called PURA, which envisages four connectivities: the physical connectivity of village clusters through quality roads and transport; electronic connectivity through tele-communication with high bandwidth fiber optic cables reaching the rural areas from urban cities and through internet kiosks; knowledge connectivity through education, skill training for farmers, artisans and crafts persons and entrepreneurship programmes. These three connectives will lead to economic connectivity through the establishment of enterprises with the help of banks, micro credit and marketing of products. We need to establish approximately 7000 PURA Complexes in the country encompassing over 2 lakh Village Panchayats.

d. Operational PURA:
There are already four operational PURAs in the country pioneered by private institutions independent of Government efforts. They are the Periyar PURA in Vallam, Tamil Nadu, Loni Pura in Loni, Maharastra, Chitrakoot PURA in Madhya Pradesh and Byrraju PURA in Andhra Pradesh. Now I would like to share the experiences of my recent visit to Byyraju PURA in Bhimavaram, Andra Pradesh. Byrraju Foundation of Satyam Computer Services has undertaken the mission of establishing 32 Ashwini centers benefiting 116 villages with a population of around 500,000 people. It has provided electronic connectivity through wireless (512 kbps to 2 mbps), knowledge connectivity in cooperation with the National Academy of Construction, Hyderabad and other domain experts, thereby creating economic connectivity in these villages.

e. Economic Connectivity:
During the last 4 years of its operations, it has skill enabled and knowledge enabled people in areas such as construction, tailoring, garment production, IT and spoken English. This programme has resulted in the creation of 3000 jobs with the minimum earning of Rs. 3000 per month, which is 3 times that of the earlier earning potential. A rural BPO Gram IT, established in Jallikakinada center has trained unemployed graduates in IT skills and spoken English and employed one hundred people to do BPO operations such as transaction processing of Human Resource data of Satyam Computers as back office processing; data processing of one million self-help-group members of Andhra Pradesh such as financial data, accounting data, spending patterns and cultural aspects under the programme “Mapping the bottom of the Pyramid”. This Gram IT BPO has led to the 10% reverse migration from Hyderabad to Bhimavaram. I am sure this Model can be replicated by many of our IT companies in the rural sector to create PURA clusters and bring rural transformation. Journalists assembled here today can definitely study this PURA and analyze the impact it has made in improving the quality of life for the people living in this cluster. Based on this study, they can spread the message of the benefits of PURA to different regions in the country. Now I would like to talk about the important facility established by the Ministry of Agriculture which should be brought to the notice of all rural people in the country for deriving maximum benefits.

f. Chhattisgarh Bhaktara PURA:
Recently, I was in Chhattisgarh, where I inaugurated a PURA complex at Baktara village in Arang Tehsil of Raipur District. This PURA complex covering 22 villages with a population of 36,000 people is coming up and very soon it will be a vibrant PURA with high quality 4 lane roads with Battery operated and Bio-diesel buses, 1000 modern dwelling units, quality health care facility with 250 bed hospital and a state-of-the-art school by DAV Institution and paramedical and nursing training institutions. The Corporate have committed to establish these facilities linked to the schedule of commission of the PURA within next 5 years. I thought of sharing this experience with you to give an idea how the areas are fast developing in different parts of our country. Central Government is planning to create 2 PURA clusters in each district across the country as a part of the 11th plan programme. Media’s interest in PURA is indeed will be the interest of village development of the country and there by economic development of the nation.

Media Research
I have a suggestion particularly to the members of the media consisting of editors, journalists, correspondents and reporters. In our country, it is essential to have research wings in academic institutions developing media personnel in reporting news, event analysis and highlights. This will enable our journalists to carry out original research on topics of national interest and provide solutions to medium and long term problems. The owners of newspapers should encourage research being carried out by experienced and young reporters for acquiring post-graduate qualifications which will improve the quality of content of the print media. Participating media members must realize that continuous updating of knowledge in research environment is essential for all media personnel. For example, before any issue is discussed in foreign newspapers, they send it to an internal research group where data is studied; verified and factual news is generated and sent for publication. When there was a critical comment about outsourcing to India, a US journalist stayed in India and studied the issue and found out that the companies engaged in Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) were carrying out business using imported equipment from USA and Europe. Thus, they found that the BPO industries provided an indirect market for the hardware industries of the USA and Europe. Immediately this was reported in the Indian media in a big way. Similarly a Discovery Channel media person wanted to study India’s growth in Information Technology; Thomas Friedman came to India and stayed for a month and visited Bangalore and other places. Based on his news analysis he wrote a book titled “The World is Flat”. Such is the power of research. I would suggest our Indian newspaper agencies should encourage research being carried out by our correspondents and journalists within India in academic research institutions, which will definitely improve the quality of our reporting and enhance the participation of journalists in national development missions.

Missions for media
In the present development context of the nation, I would like the media to take up the following missions for immediate implementation. 1. A media movement: Developed India before 2020.

2. Media becoming a development partner in the programme of PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Area) – connectivity is the focus.

3. Celebrating every aspect of the success of the people of the State and the Nation particularly in rural areas.

4. Evolution of corruption free India before 2015.

5. Promoting an enlightened society, which means education with value system, transforming religion into a spiritual force and building economic prosperity of the nations based on their core competence. For this mission, a unique world body is essential. 

6. Print media and electronic media should bring honor to the womanhood.

7. Scanning and digitizing all old issues of the print media since its establishment and store in a digital library to preserve our national heritage and make it available for research.

8. Media should evolve a code of conduct among themselves for ensuring that all reporting is analyzed, evaluated, and researched prior to publication. This is essential for peace, prosperity and safety of the nation.

Conclusion
Friends while I am discussing the necessity of having the code of conduct for the media, I would like to share with you a healthy practice being evolved and followed by a newspaper which is published all over the country. They have appointed a consultant exclusively for maintaining the standard of the newspaper reporting and nurture the name of the paper, thereby ensuring that all the guidelines are adhered to by the reporters. There is a constant review of the quality of reporting and improvement in the guidelines. This may be followed by the media organizations all over the country to continuously improve the quality and maintain the consistency of news reporting. 

The Members of Press council of India may undertake the task of motivating every citizens of the nation to work towards transforming India into a developed nation well before 2020. This is the mission which has to be done unitedly by all the media organizations. Once again let me greet you all on the occasion of the 40th National Press Day and wish you success in your mission of igniting the minds of our youth for making positive contribution towards the development of our nation.

May God Bless you.
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DS/SK