Kharge to Modi govt: Preventing media’s access to Central Hall is not acceptable

Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the Modi government for ‘forbidding and preventing media’s access to the Central Hall and the Library building.’

In a letter to the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Kharge demanded issues related to the restriction on media and journalists should be resolved soon.

Expressing his ‘deep anguish and shock’, Kharge pointed out that Parliament becomes the nerve Centre of political activity during the Session.

“Media has always carried the responsibility of informing the general public about the burning issues being raised on the floor of the House,” Kharge wrote in the letter, dated November 30.

“Forbidding and preventing media into the very premise of the campus of Parliament including access to the Central Hall and Library is not acceptable,” said Kharge.

Earlier, a group of journalists who covered Parliament for decades had penned down an open letter to all the political parties, saying that the promise made by the Speaker, Om Birla regarding unrestricted entry to Parliament, has not been fulfilled.

Press Club of India tweeted the letter on November 27.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla while imposing ‘some restrictions’ on media in August had said that they would be lifted at the earliest.

Interestingly, while some of the restrictions have been relaxed for the MPs and their staff in Parliament, they continue to be in place for the press.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CPI leader Binoy Viswam also wrote letters to the Chair, demanding free access to media in Parliament.

National Herald was the first to highlight how freedom of the press has been restricted by the Modi government.

Freedom of the Press has been guaranteed by the Constitution under Article which says that all citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression.