The National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO), Karnataka Chapter, has demanded that the government grant more power to the National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions.
Besides, the NCHRO has sought the appointment of a chairperson for the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission, a post which has been vacant since May 2012. Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on media and protection of human rights, Ramesh Nagaragere, State president of NCHRO, said the commission at the Centre and States should be given more powers. “The commission does not have any teeth at all. There is a need to give them more power,” he said.
Meanwhile, Reny Ayline, national coordinator, NCHRO, said the media would often “fabricate” news which affects the rights of minorities, particularly Muslims.
Stating that there was a need for reporters to examine various angles of the story, Mr. Ayline said there was a need to look beyond the police version.
Referring to the exodus when persons form the northeast left the city in panic, he said, “The media reported that they left the city as they were getting threatening messages from various Islamic organisations. Parts of the media said the reports were coming from the National Cyber Security Cell. A simple Google search would have revealed that there is no cell by that name.”
Social responsibility
Adding to that, Abubakkar, advocate of NCHRO, said with the increase in the number of media houses, media houses were losing social responsibility. “Media organisations, particularly the electronic media, are obsessed with the breaking news phenomenon, which often leads to inaccurate news,” he said.
Mr. Nagaragere also highlighted the need for journalists not to pass value judgements in news reports and said there was a need for self regulation for the media.
