West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Monday assured that the media would not be obstructed while reporting in Nandigram and the police will look into all complaints filed by them.
"No one will obstruct the media, not even our party workers. I have asked the police to look into all such complaints," he said. On reported threats by CPI-M's Khejuri Block-I President Himangshu Das to TV channel Star Anand, the chief minister said: "I have received such a complaint, but would like to assure you that no one will dare touch you."
He, however, refused to comment on the decision by two Revolutionary Socialist Party ministers, Kshiti Goswami and Manohar Tirkey, to resign from the state Cabinet.
The chief minister also regretted the police action on a procession of intellectuals in Kolkata on Sunday.
"Such incidents are always undesirable. It would have been better, had there been no such incident," Bhattacharya said.
"The police are not supposed to behave in such a manner with intellectuals. This happened as the police were not prepared for processions at the same time. I advised the Kolkata police commissioner to meet the press personally and express regret for Sunday's incident. He did so," Bhattacharya said.
Bhattacharya said he had already spoken with a number of intellectuals who were in Sunday's procession protesting against violence at Nandigram.
"I will talk to poet Shankha Ghosh and others shortly," Bhattacharya said.
The chief minister, however, criticised a section of intellectuals. "Those who are vocal on television channels these days did not express their views earlier," he said.
© Copyright 2007 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|