Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil is known to keep the media at bay, particularly when he is in Delhi. But the conference of Directors General of Police and Inspectors General of Police last week saw him singing a slightly different tune. Much to the surprise of his audience at Vigyan Bhavan, Patil praised the media, saying it played “an important” role in maintaining peace. He went a step further, exhorting top cops to help the media avoid mistakes by giving them necessary information. But this came with a rider that suggested he had not had a complete change of heart after all. Such information, he added, should be given in black and white and “briefly”.
