CHEERS FOR SMITA GUPTA AND HER TRIBE

Sir—This refers to your news reports, ‘Aligarh Varsity under Siege—student recounts nightmare’, (December15), ‘Barely surviving the mad fury of a communal mob’, (December 16), ‘Aligarh violence a turning point in India’s history’, (December 17), all by Smita Gupta in Aligarh for The Independent. Such indepth reports, not only manifest that the ethics of journalism are still alive at least at the highest level of media practitioners, but also embarrass the government-run audio-visual media (Doordarshan), which relies more on the advice of their political commanders than their correspondents.
I, being a freelancer and a- journalist product of AMU, was present in the campus and came to know that the news—the university is closed for an indefinite period and students are asked to vacate the hostels—telecasted and ‘broadcasted, besides being false, harassed thousands of parents whose sons and daughters are studying in the university. Later, when the Vice
Chancellor, MN Farooqi asked the directorates of AIR. and Doordarshan that how such news came on radio and TV without the presence of any correspondent in the campus, the answer was that the particular news came through the home ministry(!) Congratulations to ministers who are not only doing their file job but also that of reporters.
Osama Manzar
New Delhi