CJI flays pervasive media coverage of terror attacks

Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan Saturday criticised the media for its pervasive coverage of terror attacks,saying it could provoke disproportionate level of anger and irrational desire for retribution.....

Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan Saturday criticised the media for its pervasive coverage of terror attacks,saying it could provoke disproportionate level of anger and irrational desire for retribution.

While it is fair for the media to criticise inadequacies in the security and law enforcement apparatus,there is also a possibility that resentment fuelled by media coverage can turn into an irrational desire for retribution, the CJI said while speaking at a two-day International Conference of Jurists on Terrorism,which began here on Saturday. Balakrishnan said the symbolic impact of terrorist attacks on the minds of ordinary citizens had been considerably amplified by pervasive media coverage. The proliferation of 24-hour news channels and the digital medium has ensured that quite often some disturbing images and statements reach a wide audience within a short span of time, he said.

For instance,the CJI said,if terrorist strikes were attributed to individuals belonging to a certain ethnic or religious community then it may result in unreasonable discrimination and retaliation against ordinary members of that community. He said such a trend was clearly visible in US in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and has been the cause of communal violence in many instances in India.

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Justice Balakrishnan said legal response to terrorism must be founded on a rational understanding of the underlying causes for such extremist behaviour. Knee-jerk responses such as clamping down on civil liberties or a spate of arbitrary arrests and increased surveillance over citizens can prove to be counter-productive,he added.

In such an atmosphere,the CJI said,it is only through calm deliberation and mutual tolerance that the legal systems of different nations can work together to tackle this problem.

President Pratibha Patil,Law Minister Veerappa Moily and eminent jurists from various countries,including Justice Awn S Al-Khasawneh of the International Court of Justice and Justice Chan Sek Keong,Chief Justice of Singapore,were also present at the conference.

Saudi envoy walks out after Ram Jethmalanis remark

Saudi Arabian Ambassador to India,Faisal-al-Trad,Saturday walked out of an international conference of jurists here after former Union Minister Ram Jethmalani accused the Wahabi sect,to which the Saudi royal dynasty belongs to,of being responsible for terrorism.

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Trad left the conference hall after Jethmalani said at the inaugural function of the conference that unfortunately in the 17th century,they produced an evil man in Saudi Arabia by the name of Wahab,who was concerned about the decline of the Muslim world but he hit upon a wrong remedy. The Ambassador,however,returned to the conference after Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily made it clear that Jethmalanis remarks were personal and not that of the government.

While Jethmalani alleged that Wahabi terrorism indoctrinated rubbish in the minds of young people to carry out terrorist attacks and lamented that India had friendly relations with a country that supported Wahabi terrorism,Moily said terrorism could not be attributed to any particular religion.

Jethmalani said there had been Hindu terrorists and Buddhist terrorists and it was unfortunate that the terrorist that the world is talking about is mainly Muslim. But let me make it clear that I am a student of all religions including Islam. I have the highest respect for the prophet of Islam,he was a man of peace, he added.