Congress has condemned V K Singh for his remarks. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said Mr. Singh’s statement against media shows utter intolerance and incapacity to hear any kind of criticism or dissent. Briefing reporters in New Delhi this evening, party spokesperson Khushboo Sundar demanded that General Singh should be removed.
Meanwhile, BJP has distanced itself from Minister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh’s controversial remarks on Twitter against media.Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said Twitter is a personal platform and meaning of tweets are best deciphered by the person who has tweeted. He said BJP firmly believes that for a healthy democracy, all wings, be it legislature, executive, judiciary and media, are extremely essential.
The Minister posted a tweet yesterday in which he described the media in derogatory terms. The comment was made following a press conference in Djibouti, where the Union Minister said that visiting Pakistan High Commission during Pakistan Day celebrations was more exciting for media than rescue operations in Yemen. Gen Singh had earlier participated in Pakistan Day celebrations in New Delhi last month which had led to controversy. The Minister is currently in Djibouti to supervise the evacuation of Indians from Yemen.
The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) condemns the abusive words used by Union Minister Gen. (Retd) V.K. Singh while attacking media persons.
Such derogatory remarks coming from persons occupying high offices cannot be accepted. Tolerating and accepting dissent is the hallmark of any democratic government and its functionaries.
The DUJ regrets the Twitter attack by Gen. Singh. The least that Gen. Singh should do is to tender an unconditional apology.