Media lauded for ‘constructive role’
srinagar — Jammu Kashmir chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam on Friday lauded the media for its “constructive role” in the current situation here.
“If we would have thought that media is portraying wrong things, we could have closed the channels. All channels are running. They are being allowed to meet people here, what you (media) are broadcasting is reaching people,” he said.
“You (media) have played a good role. Everybody may have different viewpoints. But people while they are sitting at home and especially when there are restrictions, this is the only medium through which they can know what is happening outside. You people have played a very constructive role. I appreciate it,” he said. Subrahmanyam further said that he appreciated that the reporting by most of the channels is “99 correct”.
“We had said it first that cable TV or satellite TV services should not be closed so that people are at least able to see what is happening. I appreciate that most of the channels, whatever they have shown is 99 per cent correct,” he added.
Asked about the restrictions on telephone communications, he said: “Terrorists also communicate using these mediums. It has been done to disable the threat from terrorists.”
Earlier, while addressing a Press conference, the chief secretary had said that the government’s focus is on the earliest return to normalcy while ensuring that terrorist forces are given no opportunity to wreak havoc as in the past. —