Supreme Court of India called live reporting of 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack “totally wrong and unacceptable”

A bench of the Supreme Court of India with justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad in its verdict which upheld the death sentence of terrorist Ajmal Kasab talked tough on live reporting of the commando operations. The court said that the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 or putting the national security in jeopardy can never be justified by stating the freedom of speech and expression.

Many Indian television channels aired the live telecast of the National Security Guards (NSG) commando operation at Hotel Taj and other places in Mumbai during the 26/11 terrorist attack. The videos showed the tactics the commandos used to enter various buildings and floors, their modes of operation, weapons they carry and much more. As the television network within the building where militants were hiding was functioning well, they might have received good clues about the outside world. This would enable them to prepare in advance, risking the life of the people inside the building and the commando team.

“It is in such extreme cases that the credibility of an institution is tested. The coverage of the Mumbai terror attack by the mainstream electronic media has done much harm to the argument that any regulatory mechanism for the media must only come from within,” the court said, hinting at the need of an external regulatory mechanism to handle such situations in future.

Hope our overzealous visual media will learn from this verdict and do their vital role of sharing information in accordance with the national interests and by giving preference to the personal rights and liberties of the individuals involved.

Source: ibnlive.in.com

Statement issued by the Mata Amritanandamayi Math regarding the attack on Amma during her Darshan, here at Vallikkavu on August 01, 2012.

Man barges on stage during darshan(2 Aug ‘12)

Amma’s darshan today (August 1st, 2012), at Amritapuri, began at 11 a.m. At about 12 noon, while Amma was giving darshan, a bearded man who looked to be about 30 years old, ran swiftly through the bhajan hall and up the ramp towards the stage, shouting “Bismillah Irahman Iraheem”. As he dashed up the stage wearing only under garments, he knocked down many devotees, and headed straight towards Amma. He was blocked from reaching Amma and after much effort, the police officers on duty at that time and devotees were able to apprehended him, and he was taken to the local police station. A policeman was injured in the scuffle.  Even when he was being put into the police van the man was shouting “Bismillah Irahman Iraheem”.

“Amma is fearless. She has dedicated her life to the service of humanity. The Ashram can’t believe that someone would make such an attempt against Amma as She has always stood for the upliftment of the entire humanity. Anyway the incident can’t be treated lightly and the ashram expects a thorough enquiry into the incident,“ said Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, Vice Chairman of Mata Amritanandamayi Math to the Government officials.

Later the police revealed that during questioning, the man said that he was a law student from Bihar and gave his name as Sadmal Singh Mann. The ashram confirms that the man is not a devotee and was never seen in the ashram before. The ashram officials want to reassure all of Amma’s devotees not to be worried on the matter, as Amma continued to give darshan as usual, absolutely  unaffected by the incident.

The video below, captured by the security cameras catches the incident (at 0.02 and 0.12), and the man being taken away by the police to the jeep while shouting and uttering obscenities.

Source: amritapuri.org