The Editors Guild of India released a statement on the latest attack on the media by Arvind Kejriwal on Friday.
The Guild condemned in the strongest terms the repeated attacks on the media by the Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal that violated the norms of decent democratic debate.
His wholesale accusation against the media as being bought by a particular political party and candidate and his threat, even if it be an empty one, to send media persons to prison after an enquiry reflect an intolerant mind-set that resents any critical scrutiny.
The guild also stated that it is the democratic right of the free media to raise any issue and to subject any public person or party to scrutiny, and it is ridiculous to label criticism of a party or of a political leader as "paid news".
Furthermore, it said that most parties have grown to take critical scrutiny for granted and have shown the maturity to counter and get their points of view across in a reasonable manner. One hopes the intolerance that is reflected in Arvind Kejriwal's recent attacks on the media does not represent the new style of politics promised by the Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders.