Civil Liberties groups' statements on Afzal Guru's hanging

Here is a list of statements by various civil liberties groups.

Abandoning the Right to Food

EPW has a important article by (co-authored by Harsh Mander, a member of the National Advisory Council) on the "Abandoning the Right to Food" by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

Just one quote:

According to media reports, the government plans to pass the National Food Security Bill in the coming budget session of Parliament after incorporating most of the recommendations of the standing committee. If this is allowed to happen, India will lose a historic opportunity to end hunger and malnutrition in the country. If a state like Chhattisgarh can legislate a comprehensive Food Security Act, there is no reason why the central government – which has far greater resources at its disposal – cannot do the same for the entire country.

Press Freedom in India - a caveat

A few days ago, I posted the press freedom in India rankings by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). A caveat follows.

Of course the whole rankings issue involves weighing of many factors, but one can sometimes detect some glaring biases.

The following article (via Angry Arab) makes a good case that the press freedom index is politically biased, at least in case of the Middle East. Pro-US and pro-western governments are consistently given higher ranking and conversely.

However, anti-Americanism is hardly raging in India, nor is anti-Indianism (whatever those terms mean) in the US, nor in Europe, so India cannot find any excuses for its abysmal ranking through this route.

State entry into media?

The TRAI has introduced recommendations against the entry of state and central government entering the broadcast sector.

According to this EPW article, TRAI bases its recommendation on a questionable premise:

Quoting from a 1995 Supreme Court judgment, when the media scene was vastly different from what it is today, TRAI suggests that allowing government bodies into the business of broadcasting is not conducive to a healthy media environment.

 It discusses various questions, such as the Tamil Nadu govt. getting into distribution and conflicting with private distributors by offering a cheaper package.

In today's media scene with a huge number of private channels, does it pass the laugh test that it would be a threat to freedom if the govt. entered broadcasting in a bigger way?

The whole article is worth a read.