Kerala - Kochi   

‘Ban live telecast of terror combat’

– Photo: Vipin Chandran

Leadership: Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the delegates’ session of the State Congress conference in Kochi on Tuesday .

Kochi: The Congress State conference has demanded amendments to the Cable Television Network Rules to impose a ban on live telecast of counter-terrorism operations of security forces.

The delegates’ session of the conference adopted a political resolution demanding the ban. The resolution, moved by M.I. Shanavas and seconded by Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, recalled the live telecast of the recent Mumbai terrorist attack, probably providing vital information on the moves of the security forces to the terrorists.

Later, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala, at a press conference, said the party did not agree with the practice of giving live coverage of terror strikes as it would only help forces inimical to the country. The party’s State unit is of the opinion that the amendments should ensure media freedom to the extent possible and ensure that the media would approach such crisis situations in a responsible manner, he said.

Mr. Chennithala was accompanied by K. Babu and K.V. Thomas, MLAs, and District Congress Committee president P.J. Paulose.

The delegates’ meet condemned the current trend of apolitical culture on the strength of the recent popular sentiments against terrorism. The resolution warned that such a trend would only lead to anarchy. It disagreed with the current debates that terrorist threats could not be tackled in a democratic process. The country’s response to the Mumbai terror attacks is a good example of the political response to it. “We are committed to facing up to these challenges, besides taken immediate steps to rectify any mistakes. The Prime Minister had apologised for the lapses in tackling the Mumbai attacks.”

The resolution also condemned minority and majority communalism, terming these as two sides of the same coin. It accused the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Left parties of caressing these forces from time to time. The conference sought to tweak up its anti-LDF plank through resolutions against the failure of the State government to promote the economic development of the State and against frittering away the benefits of several Central schemes.

The resolutions also reiterated the party’s commitment to the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised communities.

In its economic resolution, moved by Benny Behanan, the party debunked the Left parties’ claims that they were responsible for restraining the United Progressive Alliance government from following a policy of economic liberalisation.

It condemned the State government for failing to implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.

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