Media is free to criticise government, says Naqvi

Taking action against journalists for doing their job, the LDF government was following in the footsteps of the Congress. However, he had not much to say about India’s low ranking in the World Press Freedom Index.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said that the media in the country was free to criticise the government, and that the freedom of the media was engraved in the Constitution.

Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, the last day of his three-day visit to Kerala, he said that in taking action against journalists for doing their job, the LDF government was following in the footsteps of the Congress.

Earlier, Mr. Naqvi said the approach of the Congress as an Opposition party was destructive and alleged that the Congress and Left parties were competing to be champions of communalism.

Mr. Naqvi attended several programmes in north Kerala as part of the 9th anniversary celebrations of the NDA government at the Centre. He came down on the State government for not compensating the family of the farmer who reportedly ended his life at Pulpally in Wayanad owing to debt.

Mr. Naqvi also attended a meeting of senior BJP members at Mararji Bhavan here and met eminent persons from various fields, including industrialists and those from minority communities. He later visited the family of late actor Mamukkoya.

At a meeting of social media influencers and digital creators organised by the BJP IT Cell, he appreciated the role of social media in publicising the achievements of the NDA government at a time when mainstream media refused to do so.