THIRUVANANATHAPURAM: The Kerala union of working journalists condemned the police move to question eminent journalist Vinu V John for his diatribe on the government policies while hosting prime time news hour. The KUWJ deemed the incident unprecedented and asked the government to ensure a safe place for journalists to exercise their duty.

The KUJW president MV Vineetha and general secretary R Kiran Babu in the statement asked the government to end the case against Vinu at the earliest. The incident happened in March last year when the trade unions in Kerala ordered a 48-hour strike against central government policies. The strike saw attacks on public and private transport which was discussed in the prime-time discussion hosted by Vinu. The journalist was fierce in his criticism and never pulled back any punches while admonishing the LDF rajya sabha MP Elamaram Kareem who labeled the cry-over attacks as petulant.

Curiously, Vinu had no clue about the case being registered against him. Even other journalists were not aware of the happenings. The revelation happened while Vinu approached to renew his passport which was stalled citing pending cases over him. Vinu V John appeared before the police and gave his side of the statement today. It reeks quite a hypocrisy of the lowest order as it is the same LDF government that quickens its arsenal of tirades against the central government and acts as the gatekeepers of journalist ethics when any incident sprouts in north India.