Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has to be strongly condemned for issuing a legal notice calling upon all the local publications printed and published in Goa, to refrain from publishing any statements made by the President of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee or by any person.
This act of desperation by the Chief Minister is a matter of great concern and let us hope that the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court would in public interest take suo-motu cognisance to ensure that freedom of Press is restored in Goa. Chief Minister has to be reminded that a strong, vocal and constructive opposition is the key to the success of any democracy and that Mr. Parrikar's attempts to stifle the voices of Opposition was high-handed, unconstitutional and autocratic. If the Chief Minister is allowed to manipulate and muzzle the Press, all newspapers would have to wind up and Mr. Parrikar could circulate his Official Gazette to every Goan. The legal notice sent by the Chief Minister day exposes Mr. Parrikar's direct involvement in systematically targeting, intimidating and blackmailing the local Press. A free press is a basic tenet of our democratic set up and Chief Minister Parrikar should not get away by threatening and blackmailing the local media which infact has a very important and sacred role to play in our society. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should immediately withdraw his legal notice and tender a public apology to all the concerned newspapers. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################