Your Excellency, is this really a Kalamity?

Mindless red tape can even tie the President in knots. The Press Council of India wants President A P J Abdul Kalam to be treated in a 145...

Mindless red tape can even tie the President in knots.

The Press Council of India wants President A P J Abdul Kalam to be treated in a 8216;8216;dignified and respectful8217;8217; manner by the media. It8217;s another matter that Kalam himself has never complained about being referred to as just Kalam.

The Press Council8217;s curiously worded advice8212;it doesn8217;t spell out any case of irreverence or offers any specific suggestions8212;follows a chain of routine responses which got triggered when Rashtrapati Bhavan, as is the norm, forwarded a letter from an obscure UP politician to the Information 038; Broadcasting Ministry and marked it: 8216;8216;Examine this.8217;8217;

Sitapur-based Om Prakash Trivedi, claiming to head a political organisation called the Bharatiya Sarvabhaumik Party, drew Rashtrapati Bhavan8217;s attention to the fact that 8216;8216;the front pages of newspapers have made it a habit of referring to the President as just Kalam.8217;8217;

Once the letter was sent to the I038;B Ministry, its babus embellished it with phrases like 8216;8216;most immediate8217;8217; and 8216;8216;VIP Reference8217;8217; and sent it over to the Press Council.

nbsp;	Noted, with due respect

		nbsp;	Press Council8217;s advisory PR/22/04-05-PCI, dated July 26, 2004: 8226; 8216;8216;The attention of the Press Council of India has been drawn by some members of public towards the tendency among some sections of the media to not address the First Citizen of the country and its Constitutional Head in a dignified and respectful manner. 8226; 8216;8216;The Council thus advises the media to show due respect to the Hon8217;ble President of India in its reports.8217;8217;	nbsp;

Your Excellency, is this really a Kalamity?

Overawed by these VIP labels, the august Press Council issued a statement on July 26 titled 8216;8216;Press Council advises the Press to address the Hon8217;ble President of India with due respect as the Constitutional Head8217;8217;.

Acting on this, even The Indian Newspaper Society sent a letter to all member-newspapers with the same caption emphasizing 8216;8216;due respect8217;8217; to the 8216;8216;Constitutional Head8217;8217;.

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When contacted by The Indian Express, the Press Secretary to Kalam said: 8216;8216;This letter written by Trivedi had been received in our petition section. It was routinely forwarded to the ministry concerned, which in this case is the I038;B Ministry. This is the usual practice. We have no particular suggestion or objection in this respect.8217;8217;

Asked if the President had any objection to 8216;8216;Kalam8217;8217; being used on second reference or in headlines, he said: 8216;8216;The President is not even aware of the letter.8217;8217;

In his letter dated March 19 this year, Trivedi, who also claims his party is affiliated to something called the Nations8217; Federation of the World, wrote: Jaise ki samacharpatra aadi darj mukhya pristha par Kalam 8230; sambodhan karne ki galat prabritti ho gayi hai.8217;8217; Most newspapers have developed this wrong habit of addressing the President as Kalam on their front pages.

When asked what the Press Council meant, chairman Justice K Jayachandra Reddy, said: 8216;8216;We took note of it after it was forwarded to us by the I038;B Ministry. We are not setting any norms. We are leaving it to you newspapers. You use your judgment and decide how you will address your President.8217;8217;