Thiruvananthapuram: The office of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has rejected as “baseless propaganda” allegations that his government is imposing restrictions on media freedom, insisting that no such move has ever been made.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the government said the clarification came in the wake of a controversy over the leak to the press of a confidential World Bank communication regarding the ‘Kera’ project.
It said an inquiry had been ordered to determine how such a highly sensitive document was leaked and published, warning that such breaches could harm the state’s credibility with international financial institutions.
“This investigation is not an action against journalists, but a normal administrative process to identify lapses within official circles,” the statement read, adding: “If officials are found to have erred, it is our duty to investigate and hold them accountable.”
The government condemned what it described as deliberate attempts to portray the probe as an anti-media measure and dismissed suggestions that journalists would be summoned during the fact-finding process.
Kerala’s high political awareness and media literacy meant that false news rarely influenced public opinion, it said, accusing some outlets of persisting with “false campaigns” against state leaders and ministers even after misleading reports had been disproved.
While reiterating that suppression or intimidation of the press was not state policy, the government vowed to counter those who deliberately spread misinformation to mislead the public or damage its reputation.
Referring to India’s history of press censorship during the Emergency, it stressed that Kerala opposed such measures and was committed to safeguarding media freedom “in every sense”.
Maintaining good relations with the press was the government’s stated approach, it said, but “malicious leaks aimed at damaging institutional trust” would not be tolerated. It also rejected comparisons with regions where media freedom is genuinely under threat, calling them “unfortunate and unacceptable”.
“We repeat and reaffirm, no move against press freedom will be permitted in Kerala,” the statement concluded.