Foot in the mouth: Deccan Herald editorial about Katju

by Idéfix Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:07 am

I agree with this editorial.

Even two years after becoming the chairman of the Press Council of India, Markandeya Katju does not have a clear idea of the extent of his responsibilities and the limits of his powers...

Katju’s criticism of Narendra Modi may not be wrong. Many others in the country would agree with him too. But he was not entitled to make those comments from his official position...

It is unfortunate that the tendency to make comments on all issues under the sun is spreading among many who hold positions which should be above politics and partisanship. It dilutes the authority of their offices and lowers their status and effectiveness. Katju may have his personal views on people and politics but he cannot air them in public when he holds a statutory office.

Katju has wrong notions about his own duties as Press Council chairman and sometimes his statements have given the impression that he is more a problem for the press than a protector and guardian of its role in the country, its freedom and its functioning. He has made uninformed and even laughable comments on various matters like Indians’ intelligence, popular tastes and Pakistan’s status as a country. His words and functioning have not proved till now that he has done justice to his job but only confirmed the feeling that he is not the right man for it.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/313306/foot-mouth.html

by goodcitizn Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:18 am

panini press wrote:I agree with this editorial.

Even two years after becoming the chairman of the Press Council of India, Markandeya Katju does not have a clear idea of the extent of his responsibilities and the limits of his powers...

Katju’s criticism of Narendra Modi may not be wrong. Many others in the country would agree with him too. But he was not entitled to make those comments from his official position...

It is unfortunate that the tendency to make comments on all issues under the sun is spreading among many who hold positions which should be above politics and partisanship. It dilutes the authority of their offices and lowers their status and effectiveness. Katju may have his personal views on people and politics but he cannot air them in public when he holds a statutory office.

Katju has wrong notions about his own duties as Press Council chairman and sometimes his statements have given the impression that he is more a problem for the press than a protector and guardian of its role in the country, its freedom and its functioning. He has made uninformed and even laughable comments on various matters like Indians’ intelligence, popular tastes and Pakistan’s status as a country. His words and functioning have not proved till now that he has done justice to his job but only confirmed the feeling that he is not the right man for it.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/313306/foot-mouth.html

I am not only in complete agreement with this article but equally insistent that the Center should have the decency to remove him immediately from that position. Otherwise, he will only continue to abuse the privilege handed out to him and make the Center a party to his outright disregard to statutory compliance.

Foot in the mouth: Deccan Herald editorial about Katju

Foot in the mouth: Deccan Herald editorial about Katju

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