Attack on Media Is Unacceptable; CM and Home Minister Must Answer, Says Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has strongly condemned the Kerala Police action of entering the news desk at Reporter TV's headquarters and disrupting news broadcasting.

In a statement, he said the Chief Minister and Home Minister must answer for what he described as an attack on the media. He strongly condemned the incident as a deplorable assault on press freedom.

A group of police officers entered the news desk at the channel's Kochi office early in the morning, seized the phones of journalists and created an atmosphere of fear for around one-and-a-half hours. The police has also allegedly recorded visuals of journalists at the office.

Pinarayi Vijayan described the police action as reminiscent of the Emergency era and alleged that similar attacks against the media in BJP-ruled states and Delhi, which is also governed by BJP government, were now being repeated in Keralam.

He compared the action to the proceedings against NewsClick, alleging that the police action at Reporter TV was similar to the entry into the NewsClick office, seizure of equipment and arrest of its editor.

“Keralam will not accept such an assault aimed at silencing the media,” Pinarayi Vijayan said.