Author: UNI
Publication: The Daily Excelsior
Date: June 9, 2004
URL: http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/04june09/news.htm#8
Indian media was today cautioned
against blowing events out of proportion as Pakistan was taking advantage
of unsubstantiated reportage involving the armed forces, to achieve its
own ends, an Army official said.
"Pakistan has achieved its aims
by compiling Indian media reports, carried extensively in the Pakistani
media, in cases such as the Siachen fake killings and the Tehelka episode,"
said Brigadier R S Sujlana of the Army Liaison Cell, Army Hq, New Delhi.
He was addressing journalists at
a two-day 'media workshop on defence' here, organised by 'Golden Katar'
Division of the Indian Army at the Parbat Ali Sainik Institute (PASI) from
today.
While emphasising transparency in
the Army-media relationship, he said it did not mean compromising the force's
strategies and tactics against the enemy. "How could we have told a persisting
reporter where we were sending our armoured vehicles," he asked, narrating
an experience during the stand-off between India and Pakistan when their
armies stood eyeball-to-eyeball on the border after the terrorist attack
on Parliament in December 2001.
He applauded the media's role during
the 1999 Kargil conflict for creating a public opinion in national interest.
Outlining the Army's media policy,
Brigadier Sujlana said the forces in a democratic country like India realised
the tremendous impact media have in shaping the public mind.
It affected decision-makers and
influenced public and political opinion, built morale of the troops, and
encouraged respect for human rights. But, at the same time, the media should
ensure that the enemy did not derive advantage from news such as those
related to the alleged human rights violations, he said.
The media should also ensure that
while assisting the armed forces in countering terrorist propaganda, it
did not propagate and give credence to the misdeeds of terrorists. In such
cases, the armed force's aims could be compromised and operation hampered,
Brigadier Sujlana said. Earlier, Major- General Tejinder Singh VSM, General
Officer Commanding (GOC), 11 Infantry Division, in his opening address,
lauded the role of Indian media as a pillar of democracy that built morale
and public support for the armed forces.
He said there was no other Army
in the world that, after the World War II, has successfully liberated a
country of the size of Bangladesh. Its international role, too, had come
in for praise from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
He also appealed to the media to
cooperate with the armed forces, given the fact that these forces have
to operate under certain constraints.