Editors Guild takes exception to Rahul Gandhi comment on Smita Prakash

NEW DELHI: The

Editors Guild

of India has expressed concern at the words used by Congress president Rahul Gandhi while criticising ANI editor-in-chief Smita Prakash who had interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week.


“The Guild believes journalists should claim no immunity from healthy and civilised criticism. At the same time labelling of journalists is a favourite tactic on the part of the establishment to discredit, delegitimise, and intimidate them,” the guild said in a statement.

“We have seen our political class use this for some time now. In the recent past top BJP leaders as well as those of AAP have used unambiguously abusive expressions such as presstitute, news traders, bazaaru (saleable commodities) or dalals (pimps) for journalists,” it said.

The guild said that combined with ploys such as boycotts, denial of access and lately government accreditation, adds up to a reprehensible strategy to throttle media freedoms.

“This must be reversed. Journalists, we believe, will continue to deal with these with their usual thick skins and not let these tactics intimidate them. The Guild as an apex, non-partisan institution, however, takes strong exception to this tendency and calls for its halt,” the statement said.

Smita Prakash had also tweeted slamming Rahul Gandhi’s comments.

“Dear Mr Rahul Gandhi cheap shot at your press conference to attack me. I was asking questions not answering. You want to attack Mr Modi, go ahead but downright absurd to ridicule me. Not expected of a president of the oldest political party of the country,” she said on Twitter.

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