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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
Journalists of Delhi on Tuesday took out a huge demonstration to protest against Prevention of Terrorist Ordinance.
They marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar shouting slogans against POTO, and demanded that the 'draconian' ordinance be repealed.
Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy, Prakash Karat of Communist Party of India (Marxist), D Raja of Communist Party of India, Justice (retired) Rajinder Sacchar, member of Rajya Sabha, and noted journalists Kuldeep Nayyar and Tarun Tejpal also joined the march to express their solidarity with the journalists.
Addressing the gathering later at Parliament Street where the march finally ended, Jaipal Reddy said that nothing less than total scrapping of the POTO would be acceptable to the Congress party.
He complimented the journalist community for showing solidarity on the issue.
"We had opposed TADA, but even under TADA the journalist community had never been targeted, as is being done under POTO," he said.
Prakash Karat described the attempt to foist POTO on the Indian democratic system as an attempt to muzzle the freedom of the press and the freedom of the Indian citizens.
Justice Sacchar said that if the members of the Rajya Sabha wanted they could forestall the government move by passing a resolution against POTO in Rajya Sabha.
D Raja said that POTO was a sort of cancer and it needs to be weeded out in totality.
"Nothing less then total repeal would be acceptable to us," he said.
Kuldeep Nayyar used the opportunity to clarify some points on behalf of the Editors Guild saying that at no point had the guild agreed to talk to the government to soften the provision of POTO.
"We are against it, and there is no question of accepting POTO," he said.
Tarun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of tehelka.com said the government has been harassing tehelka without POTO for the last eight months for exposing corruption in defence deals.
"I wonder what the government would do with POTO, when it can be draconian without it," he said.
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