Moral police: MoS sees case in different light

Thrissur: Several journalists on Saturday took umbrage to a comment — which many felt was in favour of an accused in a moral policing case — by Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan.

Speaking at the state conference of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (

KUWJ

) here, the minister alleged that the media persons were sometimes being selective in their protests.

The minister was referring to the ouster of

M Radhakrishnan

from the Press Club in Thiruvananthapuram. He was the former secretary of the club.

Radhakrishnan was arrested for assaulting a woman journalist and her colleague at her residence in the capital city on November 30. KUWJ was the first organization to suspend the accused from its primary membership.

Muraleedharan said the journalists had not launched the kind of protests when similar allegations were made in the past. The minister added that the recent strong protests, made him doubt of political motives. “When in each case, media takes a subjective view based on the individuals involved, the credibility of their point of view will be questioned. Media persons will also be questioned. Perhaps not publicly,” he said. Some of the women journalists, who had spearheaded the protests demanding Radhakrishnan’s ouster and were present at the conference, questioned the minister as he was about to leave. They told Muraleedharan that it was unfair on his part to say that they were selective in their protests.

The minister said the journalists had the right to stand by their views just like his right to express his views.

Later, the minister said the journalists did not prevent him from leaving. “Nobody stopped me or protested against me. The women journalists only informed me about their disagreement in the matter. There is no need to apologize for the statement. No one has asked me to apologize. I have not said anything that has to be retracted,” he said.