Army holds workshop to discuss media policy

To forge a better understanding with the media and acquaint the media with various aspects and nuances of the armed forces, a two-day workshop on defence began at the Parbat Ali Brigade Camp, Chiloda, near Gandhinagar, on Tuesday.

Several key issues, including the army's media policy, role and functions of the army and defence journalism will be deliberated upon during the workshop.

The highlight of the two-day event will be a display of arms and equipment of the defence forces along with an arms firing display at Chiloda on Wednesday.

In his opening address, Major General Tejinder Singh, VSM, GOC, 11 infantry division, said relations between the armed forces and the media have been the most cordial.

He cited the example of the Kargil war, where media brought live images of the war to the living rooms and the media and the entire country rallied around the forces during the war.

"The armed forces are the watch dogs of the national security and the media is the watch dog of the nation itself. It is only natural then that the defence forces and media must share cordial relations," said Major General Tejinder Singh.

Speaking on armed forces and media, Brigadier P C Kharbanda, commander, Parbat Ali Infantry Brigade, said today, there exists a very mature army-media relationship and this has been ensured by the Kargil war.

He said while freedom of speech and expression is one aspect, equally important is the fact that there ought to be a balance between transparency and national security.

Listing down the general opinion among the defence establishment and the media about each other, Brigadier Kharbanda said while the military feels neglected during peace time, the media feels that the defence establishments is self righteous and secretive.

The media has an opinion that the defence forces are not accessible and use too much military jargon.

"At times, the armed forces also use media to deceive the enemy and conceal its real intentions, but such decisions are taken by the top brass and the top political establishment is also taken into confidence," he said.

Brigadier R S Sujlana of the Army Liaison Cell, Army headquarters, said an attempt is always made by the defence establishment to provide the maximum information that could be possibly given to the media, but all information cannot be provided for issues of national security.

"We also have to act responsibly as any information on the defence forces is always big news," he said.

Citing an example, Brigadier Sujlana said during Kargil, the war went straight into the living rooms of the country, but immediately after the war, there could have been attempts by political parties to encash on the sentiment as the elections were round the corner.

On Wednesday, there will be lectures on defence journalism, defence public relations, movies on the firepower of the army, a display of arms and equipment of the defence forces at Chiloda and a firing demonstration of machine guns and rifles.

An open forum, involving officers and journalists, will also be held on Wednesday.