Dear Editor,
It is intriguing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked police officers to identify and brief journalists who write in the national interest and provide them with information. Has the Union Government indeed prepared or is it preparing separate lists of mediapersons writing for and against national interests? If so, can these lists be made public, please? I have been under the impression that in a democratic system, the existence of a free press by itself is in the national interest and no further categorisation of journalists needs to be done. But from the Prime Minister’s pronouncement, it now seems that I was wrong.
Sukumar Shidore
Via-e-mail