Govt against any move to shackle the press

With media coming under public scrutiny over its coverage of Mumbai terror attacks, the Government today favoured a debate on their response to national security even as it underlined that any move to shackle the press would be "unwelcome".

Media played a big role in the Mumbai terror attacks and even forced Pakistan to acknowledge that the lone captured survivor of the Mumbai terror attacks Ajmal Kasab was their citizen. But the constant coverage also provided inputs to the terrorists to plan their operations, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Therefore, there are "questions that stare at our face on what should be media's response to such incidents," he said.

Bansal said there should be a debate on this issue and on subjects like bringing in a content code while addressing a seminar on 'media response to national security' here.

But at the same time he cautioned that "any move to shackle the media would be unwelcome" as media is vital for survival of democracy.

"Without media, democracy cannot survive. It inculcates democratic values," he said.

Organised by the All India Newspaper Editor's Conference and Federation of Legislators of India, the seminar was attended by veteran journalists, security experts and former bureaucrats.