Media houses and journalist unions should support Mallanna: Gudur

Hyderabad, October 13 (Maxim News): BJP state senior leader Gudur Narayana Reddy on Wednesday urged the media houses and the journalist unions to raise their voice against repeated arrests of Teenmar Mallanna and protest his continuous detention.

In a media statement, he said that the media houses and journalist unions should question the oppressive attitude of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao. If not ,attacks on press freedom and fundamental rights would continue in the state. The journalists should come together to protect fellow journalist Mallanna from the oppressions of the government.

He said that Teenmar Mallanna was arrested by the police on August 27 and he was in judicial custody for the past 47 days. He said that the police have arrested Mallanna even though he was granted bail.

He said that the ‘only crime’ of Mallanna was to contest against the ruling party candidate in MLC elections. Mallanna’s contest and canvassing has sent shivers through the spine of the ruling party during the elections period. Ever since Mallanna got sizable number of votes in the election, the ruling party has developed grudge against him.

He said that on the behest of the Chief Minister the police have foisted about 35 cases against Mallanna on same reason. “It seems that the police want to keep Mallanna under detention as many days as possible on the directions of the Chief Minister,” Narayana Reddy alleged.

He said that Mallanna has been exposing the ineffective administration and misrule of the Chief Minister for the past few years through Q-TV, web channel.

He said that Mallanna was an eloquent speaker in Telangana accent and he enthralls the audience with his caustic remarks and make them to think. He said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao also uses similar oratory skills to attract the attention of the audience.

However, the caustic remarks of Mallanna have become unpalatable to the Chief Minister and he was unable digest the criticism of Mallanna. The Chief Minister fears that if Mallanna is left free he could damage his reputation among the people.
He said that the BJP has been protesting the illegal and illegitimate arrest and continuous detention of Teenmar Mallanna. The BJP opposes any restrictions and oppression on the freedom of press and speech.

The BJP senior leader said that the Chief Minister wants to demoralize Mallanna and also the activists and journalists who have been questioning the government, through arrests and false cases.

He made it clear that there was an urgent need to support Mallanna and get him released from the prison. He said that the media houses, journalist unions and political activists should support Mallanna so that he can continue his endeavors without fear.

Narayana Reddy said that freedom of the press and speech is under threat in the state as the Chief Minister and ruling party leaders are using oppressive tactics to silence the voices of critics. This has been putting the democracy in peril in the state.

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