Shinde threatens to 'crush' media for anti-Cong propaganda

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde stroked a controversy after he threatened to crush elements of the media for spreading false propaganda against the Congress. The minister claimed that there has been an anti-Congress front which was trying to provoke the government. He was speaking at a Youth Congress event on Monday evening.

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Shinde, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Sholapur, alleged that since the last four months a section of the electronic media is "manipulating" news about him and his party and warned it would be "crushed" if this kind of reportage is not stopped immediately.

"What is happening in the electronic media largely I am aware of it. In the last four months there have been efforts by the media to provoke us (Congress). We will crush such elements in the electronic media, which are indulging in false propaganda. I have the intelligence department under me. I know who is doing such things." he said.

Urging the media to focus on positive stories, which will be welcomed by the people, Shinde said the people of the country will not accept those dividing the country by disturbing society.

The remarks came on the day when the Editor's Guild of India has appealed to the public figures not to make vague and unsubstantiated charges. The Guild on Monday objected to the Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal's allegations that the media was crooked and biased. The Guild also objected to comments made by former Army Chief General VK Singh where he lashed out over the recent the Indian Express report confirming the 2012 troop movement that had spooked the government.

It appealed to political leaders and public figures not to resort to "vague, unsubstantiated charges of corrupt motives and abuses when refuting, questioning or criticising the media and keep the public discourse civil and within reasonable bounds."

NK Singh, General Secretary of Media Association, said, "Broadcast media association is very concerned by there kind of allegations which are unsubstantiated and which are a product of frustration of the political class. I have never come across a democracy where the political class is so intolerant of genuine media coverage."

(With additional information from PTI)