Author: Our Staff Reporter
Publication: The Hindu
Date: June 17, 2003
URL: http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2003061704730500.htm
The State Government has initiated
yet another defamation proceeding against The Hindu, this time taking exception
to an editorial about the controversial anti-conversion ordinance promulgated
on October 5, 2002.
The complaint, lodged in the Principal
Sessions Court by the City Public Prosecutor on behalf of the Chief Minister,
is the fifth one against The Hindu (four in the Principal Sessions Court
and a civil suit in the Madras High Court). The editorial - Unwarranted
Move - was published on October 8, 2002.
When the matter came up before the
Principal Sessions Judge, M. Jayapaul, on Monday, counsel for the Editor
and The Publisher of The Hindu filed a petition seeking to dispense with
their appearance in court. As the CPP sought time to file a counter-affidavit,
the judge adjourned the case to September 5 for further hearing. Interestingly,
the Chief Minister figures in the list of four witnesses mentioned in the
complaint.
As on February 5, the AIADMK Government
filed a total of 22 defamation complaints against various publications,
including The Hindu, The New Sunday Express, Dinamalar, Dinakaran, Nakheeran.
At least four new complaints have
been lodged since then. While The Hindu faces five cases now, the Tamil
daily Dinakaran faces eight complaints.
All other major publications, including
some upcountry dailies such as The Times of India, Statesman and The Telegraph
also face at least one complaint each.
In his present complaint, the CPP
said: "Religious conversions are, in a way, a crime against society. Conversion
is an act of violence because it hurts deeply not only members of the family
of the converted, but his entire community. No conversion is possible without
denigrating the religion and religious practice of the targeted person.
The (converted) family is alienated from the community. With it come shame,
isolation, personal conflict and seeds of discord."
Stating that the Tamil Nadu Prohibition
of Forcible Conversion of Religion Ordinance, `banning religious conversions
either by force, by allurement or by fraudulent means', was not an anti-minority
legislation, the complainant charged The Hindu with criticising the law
`deliberately, with an intention to harm and malign the reputation of the
Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa'.
Citing the editorial, he said its
intention to `equate the ordinance with the Hindutva ideology is totally
repugnant'. He said describing the AIADMK as following the line of the
BJP was `far-fetched and atrocious'.
