| Published on 26-05-2007 In National |
| Viewed 2038 times |
| Was Dinakaran's grief really an assault on press freedom? |
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Written by
Cho Ramaswamy |
The offices of Dinakaran (a Tamil newspaper) had been attacked [several days ago] with unprecedented savagery.
The publication had conducted an opinion poll to find out who would succeed Kalaignar. Dinakaran claimed in its published report that the people of Tamil Nadu accorded [MK] Stalin 70 percent of their votes followed by 20 percent granted to 'others'.
[Karunanidhi's elder son] Azhagiri netted 2 %.
This was followed by an incendiary attack on the offices of Dinakaran. Three innocent people lost their lives during this melee.
The newspaper's owner and Sun TV boss [Kalanidhi Maran] has alleged that Azhagiri was behind this assault.
This charge cannot be ignored because the publication [and television channel] have claimed emphatically that they have a clear idea about the identities of the wrongdoers. Further, as other newspapers too have said the same thing, the matter merits a thorough probe.
Various journalists' organisations have termed this as a "concerted attack on the freedom of the press because it involved the publication of a public opinion poll."
Indeed, the violence has to be universally condemned.
Those who were responsible for three murders have to be brought to book and severely punished for their heinous crimes. And since policemen were mute spectators when these reprehensible incidents took place, their role deserves a sterner reprimand. In all these matters, there cannot be differences of opinion at all.
But, can the whole thing be waxed eloquent as "an assault on the freedom of the press?"
Let us examine the incidents threadbare on the basis of their backgrounds.
For all practical purposes, the imminence of Stalin succeeding Karunanidhi as the next DMK leader is a politically accepted fact by not only the workers of that party but also by the general public. Therefore such an opinion poll was totally unnecessary at this stage to find out the identity of the heir apparent.
Already, a similar opinion poll's findings regarding the effective functioning of central ministers from Tamil Nadu had created a slew of problems for the Chief Minister because it said that Dayanidhi Maran topped the rating with 64%, followed by P Chidambaram (27%) and Ramadoss's son Anbumani scoring [a mere] 1%. [Naturally] Ramadoss was livid.
[The PMK founder] said that this was a wanton belittling [of political allies] and assailed Karunanidhi for his machinations.
Political compulsions forced the Chief Minister to distance himself from the exercise and also resulted in his condemnation of the whole exercise through a public statement. Further, he claimed that he had requested the newspaper owners to desist from similar efforts in future. That apart, after learning about the results of the next set of opinion polls, he advised the paper to refrain from publishing them.
In short, a needless opinion poll was conducted and its results were published at an inopportune moment disregarding the CM's fiat.
Had it been a newspaper owned by others, the Chief Minister wouldn't have proffered such an advice. What is more, even if he had done so, heeding or ignoring such a request would have been an editorial choice under a totally unconnected management unfettered by filial ties.
So if such an event had come to pass and if it had resulted in such a newspaper being subjected to similar violence, it would have been an altogether different story.
[To come back to the misfortune] of Dinakaran, it is obvious that a family concern decided to buck against its patriarch, who, in more ways than one, had helped it acquire commercial advantages derived out of the perks of being in power at the Centre. In other words, it was simply a family dispute.
There were several indications of inherent bitterness within [Kalaignar's extended] family.
A few weeks ago, when Stalin celebrated his birthday, Dinakaran published a news item on its front page with pictures of a family of simians and under the caption – "a monkey's fete" and carried details of the animals' do.
This apart, a silent [cold] war was already underway between the Marans and Azhagiri by the former's media blacking out of all his political events. It sequenced into the opinion poll and its consequence was the violence.
Chief Minister pointed to the "others" who got 20% of the votes in opinion poll by and implied that it was an oblique reference to Dayanidhi Maran. Later, the rights to telecast the public function to mark Karunanidhi's golden jubilee as a legislator were denied to Sun TV and the only known DMK functionary conspicuous by his absence at the event was Dayanidhi Maran.
In my opinion, these are clear manifestations of a simmering discontent within [the ruling] family. Therefore, according a cloak of press freedom to convulsions within a family will be ignoring other axioms of a power struggle.
The events of Madurai were evidently violence [triggered by] anarchy and murders – all punishable under law. By ordering a CBI probe, the Chief Minister has ensured that the local police will be absolved of its involvement in the matter.
There are many instances of the Central Bureau of Investigation going out of its way to accommodate the ruling coalition at the centre. One doesn't need to add that the present coalition in New Delhi will not transgress the fiats of Kalaignar.
In a word, the TN CM has killed two birds with one stone – viz. ensuring that the local police will remain beyond the tentacles of reproach and yet he has managed to see to it that he would get the desired results from [an 'independent'] investigation. All those journalists' bodies which demanded an independent inquiry have been silenced by this clever move.
For the time being, I do not know why the Dinakaran management openly flouted the CM's openly declared wishes. But it appears that certain forces [within his family] apparently want to warn him by saying that they are prepared for any kind of brinkmanship to embarrass him. For the time being, nobody would be able to hazard a guess as to what were the real reasons behind this since it is plain as pikestaff that the Central Government will toe Karunanidhi's line come what may.
As far as the people of Tamil Nadu are concerned, a family dispute triggered an ugly orgy of violence whose authors are yet to be prosecuted. The role of the police who chose to look the other way too needs to be looked into.
But, a newspaper's being used as a weapon to settle scores within the [ruling] family and its resultant grief in my opinion, cannot be termed [something as sacred] as freedom of the press.
(Translated from Thuglak by TSV Hari) |
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