Chennai: The publication in The Hindu of a Reuters photograph of Qutubbin Naseeruddin Ansari, a victim of communal violence in Gujarat, with captions, showed no "mal-intent on the part of the newspaper and even the various headings given over a period of time did not substantially differ from the sum and substance of the caption given by Reuters" but "the newspaper should have avoided mentioning the religion of the man identified in the photograph or of his attackers," the Press Council of India has ruled.
The complainant was Krishan Kak, IAS (retd.). He filed his complaint in June 2004.
According to the Press Council, the Inquiry Committee that went into the matter noted that The Hindu carried reports in different issues making a reference to the photograph indicating that Mr. Ansari was pleading for his life during the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat. The Committee noted that it was a fact that communal violence took place in Gujarat in 2002, and the photograph published was taken by a reputed international news agency, Reuters. The Committee's inquiry was limited to examining whether the captions provided by the newspaper over a period of time were appropriate and whether there was any deliberate intent in giving the captions. The Committee noted that the caption given by Reuters was: "An Indian Muslim man surrounded by Hindu rioters begs in Ahmedabad. An Indian Muslim man stranded on the first floor of his house and surrounded by Hindu rioters begs to nearby police to rescue him [in] Ahmedabad, the main city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, on March 1, 2002. Troops arrived in India's riot-torn western state on Friday to crush religious violence that has killed more than 190 people in two days, the worst communal bloodshed in a decade."
No mal-intent
After perusing the various captions relating to the photograph published in The Hindu , the Inquiry Committee "felt that ... there was nothing on record to establish any mal-intent on the part of the newspaper and even the various headings given over a period of time did not substantially differ from the sum and substance of the caption given by Reuters." However, the Committee observed that "the newspaper should have avoided mentioning the religion of the man identified in the photograph or of his attackers. This has time and again been stressed not only by the Council but even by the National Integration Council and several other apex authorities of this country. The Hindu should have exercised restraint in the matter and was expected to be careful in future. The Inquiry Committee decided to recommend to the Council to dispose of the complaints with these observations."
The Press Council decided to accept the reasons, findings and recommendations of the Inquiry Committee and communicated this decision to the newspaper.
