Deliberate efforts have been made in the country to destabilise the Constitution, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has said.
He was addressing the valedictory of the State conference of the KUWJ (Kerala Union of Working Journalists) here on Sunday. “Judiciary has become helpless in the country. Executive did not have any freedom and media had been silenced. Only a united response by society could resist the system,” Mr. Chennithala said.
“The Citizenship (Amendment) Act is not an issue that affects only the Muslim community. It has imperilled our secular system. The policies, which were advocated by Naturam Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, have been implemented in the country,” Mr. Chennithala said.
In a resolution, the KUWJ urged the Union Government not to implement Labour Code and Wage Code. The union urged the workers to support the trade union agitation against labour laws to be held on January 8.
The other resolutions passed at the conference demanded a non-bailable case against those who attacked mediapersons, legal protection for tackling issues in the visual media, justice for K.M. Basheer, a journalist killed in an accident involving bureaucrat Sriram Venkitaraman, and subcommittees for women in press clubs.
The meeting expressed solidarity with mediapersons fighting for the freedom of the Press in Kashmir.
New office-bearers
Newly elected panel of the KUWJ took over. The office-bearers are: K.P. Reji, Madyamam (president); E.S. Subhash, Deshabhimani (general secretary); P. Suresh Babu, Mathrubhoomi (treasurer); P. Kuttan, Kairali TV , and Nisha Purushothaman, Manorama News (vice presidents); T.P. Prashant, Kairali TV , Sreela Pillai, Republic TV , and Shabna Siyad, Media One (secretaries).
