I NDIA TODAY once called Jayalalitha the ‘Booty Queen’. That was an apt description in more than one sense. The ‘booty’ side apart, she always imagines herself to be a royal supremo. Any criticism of her from any quarters is considered lèse-majesté, which needs to be punished. The Hindu wrote an editorial on 25-4-2003 entitled “Rising Intolerance”. It began with the sentences, “With each passing day, the Jayalalithaa administration in Tamil Nadu seems to be scaling new heights of intolerance. The crude use of state power against various sections including political opponents and the independent media shows a contempt for the democratic spirit that is deeply disturbing”. It seems Jayalalitha wanted to give one more proof of what The Hindu was saying. Under her direction, her acolyte, the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker, got a resolution passed in the assembly on “breach of privilege” against The Hindu and sentenced the Editor N.Ravi and Executive Editor Malini Parthasarathy to fifteen days of imprisonment. The AIADMK majority in the assembly, a bunch of henchmen of Jayalalitha ever ready to stoop to any level to please their leader, voted without a murmur of dissent. Even assuming that it was a case of ‘breach of privilege’, the punishment was not to demand an apology or a token one day imprisonment as is usually done in such cases but a harsh 15-day sentence. The editor of Murasoli, the organ of the Opposition DMK, was also sentenced for similar reasons. Soon after the assembly passing the sentence, the Tamil Nadu police, ever ready to further state repression, descended on The Hindu office without even a warrant. They were shooed away by the Editor-in-Chief N.Ram. The TN police even followed N.Ram and his family members all the way to Karnataka where he was going to attend a function and illegally intercepted his car on the territory of the neighbouring state . The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the TN Assembly resolution. Even after the SC stay, the TN Assembly has not withdrawn the resolution. The highhanded act of the Tamil Nadu Assembly evoked protests from journalists, democratic organisations and political parties from all over the country. The Jayalalitha government stood thoroughly isolated. Liberation strongly condemns the authoritarian assault of the Tamil Nadu Assembly against freedom of expression and demands that the controversial resolution be immediately withdrawn.
We reproduce extracts from the Editorial, The Hindu, 25 April, 2003, which invoked the TN government's vindictive wrath. ".... Perhaps because she was at the receiving end of a series of criminal cases filed by the previous DMK administration, she sees her return to power as an opportunity to wield the sanctioning and prosecuting power of the state blatantly to her political advantage. In the process, the law and order machinery is working overtime and the administration seems to be trampling on the basic rights of the people. The Government should feel secure with its huge mandate and use the opportunity to concentrate on the tasks of governance without even the distractions of a political challenge. Ironically, it is instead behaving like an administration which is unsure of itself and is living from day to day. Its inordinate appetite for political confrontation is bound to take a heavy toll in terms of diminution of democratic rights and the welfare of the State as a whole. The courts can no doubt be counted upon to protect the rights, but the disturbing frequency with which people have had to resort to courts for relief and the fact that respect for democratic norms has to be brought home through court rulings reflect poorly on the style of governance...
A far more serious attack was launched against her political opponents within the State in the form of prosecutions, arrests and detentions. The media too have come under pressure with a slew of defamation cases that are quite unparalleled. The latest in this pattern of functioning is the privilege issue taken up by the Tamil Nadu Assembly over three reports of its proceedings published in The Hindu. A series of descriptive phrases, mostly about the Chief Minister’s speeches, strung together from separate reports have been collectively referred to the Assembly’s Privileges Committee, and given its composition, the outcome hinges critically on the attitude of the AIADMK members. The phrases objected to in a statement made by the Speaker include “stinging abuse”, “unrestrained attacks on the opposition”, “fumed”, “incensed”, “chastisement” and “diatribe”, all used in different contexts in describing Ms. Jayalalitha’s speeches on different occasions. These phrases are described as indecent and their use is said to be motivated by a desire to diminish the goodwill and fame that the Government enjoys....
It is useful to note in this context that the device of privilege of the legislature exists to protect its free and independent functioning, and not to protect the reputation of the Government or of individual members... The House of Commons on whose practice the privileges of legislatures are still based does not allow privilege issues to be raised over reports of proceedings unless they relate to proceedings behind closed doors or expunged portions of any speech.... The tone of the speeches, the quality of debates, the behaviour of the legislators, the nature and importance of the business transacted, violence, walk outs and the space allowed for the opposition are all matters that are legitimately commented upon in all democracies....