KOCHI: Personalities from various walks of life on Wednesday criticised the alleged police move against Malayalam magazine Samakalika Malayalam Varika, a sister concern of The New Indian Express, in connection with its publication of the now-controversial interview with former state police chief T P Senkumar.In a statement to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the personalities from arts, culture, politics, law, media and other fields said the move would stifle media freedom. They urged the Chief Minister to immediately intervene and stop any move to implicate the magazine’s editor Saji James and reporter P S Ramshad.
K Satchidanandan, Zachariah, Sara Joseph, Pazhavila Rameshan, K Ajitha, BRP Bhaskar, S Jayachandran Nair, Dr Sebastian Paul, C Gouridasan Nair, M G Radhakrishnan, M V Nikesh Kumar, B Rajeevan, Lenin Rajendran, S Bhasurendra Babu and general secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists C Narayanan signed the statement. “The interview with Senkumar was conducted and recorded with his permission. Only those sections which were part of the interview were published. The editor explained this before the investigating agency and the public,” said the statement, adding interviews are recorded by reporters to ensure their credibility and authenticity.
The full, unedited audio clip of the interview recorded by Ramshad at Senkumar’s residence on July 2 had already been handed over to the investigating officers, the statement said.
“It is beyond logic to assume such an extended and elaborate conversation was a private chat, especially when Senkumar concludes the conversation by saying, ‘there is nothing that stops me from saying anything in public now.’ He also says, ‘there is nothing in the conversation that should not be published’,” the statement said.
“The crucial sentences are recorded on the tape. Not only has Senkumar not denied his statements published in the interview, but he has also repeated the same stance at other public forums,” it said.
The statement said it was difficult to believe a publication which praised Senkumar for his legal battle against the state government would twist his statement to malign him.