When over a 100 journalists protested and courted arrest, he was
released. The next day, June 30, Mr Karunanidhi`s arrest took place. During
this pre-dawn arrest police took into custody a group of media persons in front
of the CB-CID office and released them later in the day. The police also kept
journalists at bay when the drama over the arrests was going on.
The came the attack on media persons during the DMK rally in
Chennai on August 11. Following the attack, journalists` unions held a day`s
token fast and demanded a CBI probe. The meeting also resolved to request the
Union Home Ministry and the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to
depute separate teams to investigate into the attacks on journalists and press
freedom in Tamil Nadu. And the journalists decided that they would cover the
Tamil Nadu Assembly proceedings during its budget session beginning August 16,
by wearing black badges protesting against the August 12 attack. They also
resolved to wear black badges while covering the Police Commissioner`s regular
Thursday press conference.
Given
the atmosphere of confrontation building up between the media and the police,
the city police commissioner attended on August 21, a press-Police open house
session organised by the Chennai district committee of the Tamil Nadu Union of
Journalists. He told them an identification parade would be held to identify
police personnel involved in the attack.
The
State Government has now appointed an official from the State-controlled
Directorate of Information and Public Relations as the Public Relations Officer
at the City Police Commissioner`s Office in Egmore. The new PRO, Mr Chandran,
replaces the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr A Rajendran.
Attacks
by the police on the press are only one aspect of a media- unfriendly regime.
An equally serious problem is the Chief Minister- dicatated clamming up on
information given by the state government to journalists. Ms Jayalalitha has
restrained her fellow ministers from talking to the press, so bureaucrats and ruling
party politicians alike have become extremely circumspect in giving out
information. The restriction on covering the assembly proceedings is another
step in the same direction.
Tamilnadu swings every four years or so between the same two chief ministers and the same two parties. One chief minister, Mr Karunanidhi, has the press eating out of his hand because he practically woos them. Jayalalitha on the contrary does not like journalists to become overfamiliar.