Galloway demands probe into 'reckless' Mumbai coverage

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

(Thanx Gorgeous. I was getting lonely)




Galloway demands probe into 'reckless' Mumbai coverage

(Sunday 30 November 2008)

RESPECT MP George Galloway demanded an urgent investigation by the Press Complaints Commission on Sunday into "reckless, inaccurate and inflammatory" newspaper claims about the provenance of the gunmen responsible for the atrocities in Mumbai last week.



Mr Galloway and the party's leader Salma Yaqoob claimed that, as the tragedy unfolded in India, large sections of the British press had "disgraced itself" by publishing as fact the baseless claim that some of the terrorists hailed from Britain.

"On Saturday morning, the Times, Telegraph, Sun, Mirror, Express and Daily Star all prominently reported that at least some of the terrorists were British Pakistanis," he said.


"But, on that same day, the British government and its agencies strongly rejected any claim that British nationals were responsible. So too have the Indian authorities.


"The press, however, has cast a pall of suspicion over the Pakistani populations of these three cities. Potentially most damaging is the impact on Hartlepool. The Asian and Pakistani population there is very small.


"They have been made more vulnerable still by reckless claims that someone from their midst was part of committing this atrocity."


Birmingham councillor Ms Yaqoob added: "The world is rightly calling for the Indian and Pakistani governments to tread carefully in their response to this terrorist attack.


"If it's right not to inflame feelings and communal hatred in the subcontinent, then it's surely right for the British media not to do the same at home."

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Good article and good find!

[Nostalgia]

I agree, that is a good find.

!

[Nostalgia]

And Hartlepool of course is the constituency of Peter Mandleson.

Calls for investigation after 'baseless' claims

ASIANIMAGE - Sun, 30 Nov 2008

Respect MP George Galloway and the party's leader, Cllr Salma Yaqoob, have called for an urgent investigation by the Press Complaints Commission into newspaper claims the Mumbai terrorsits hailed from Britain.

"In the midst of the unfolding tragedy in Mumbai," says Galloway, "A large section of the British press disgraced itself by publishing as fact the baseless claim that some of the terrorists responsible hailed from Britain.

"On Saturday morning [29 November] the Times, Telegraph, Sun, Mirror, Express and Star all prominently reported at least some of the terrorists were British Pakistanis. The number was reported as between two and seven, and the cities they were said to hail from were variously Bradford, Leeds and Hartlepool.

"But on that same day the British government and its agencies strongly rejected any claim that British nationals were responsible. So too have the Indian authorities.

"The press, however, has cast a pall of suspicion over the Pakistani populations of these three cities. Potentially most damaging is the impact on Hartlepool. The Asian, and Pakistani, population there is very small. They have been made more vulnerable still by reckless claims that someone from their midst was part of committing this atrocity.

"Predictably, there was no apology of correction on these titles' websites or in their sister publications. So Salma Yaqoob and I have written today to the Press Complaints Commission asking them to investigate as a matter of urgency this flagrant breach of clause one of their code of practice, on accuracy."

Salma Yaqoob, who comes from Bradford and is a councillor in Birmingham, added, "Incendiary reporting like this threatens to bring deeper division and mistrust between the varied parts of our community. It has made British Pakistanis in places such as Bradford feel vulnerable and scapegoated.

"The world is rightly calling for the Indian and Pakistani governments to tread carefully in their response to this terrorist attack. If it's right not to inflame feelings and communal hatred in the sub-continent, then it's surely right for the British media not to do the same at home."

From www.SpideredNews.com

Originally Posted by Nostalgia

And Hartlepool of course is the constituency of Peter Mandleson.

Meaning it's true. They were from Hartlepool.?

[Nostalgia]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Meaning it's true. They were from Hartlepool.?

Is that you again TMI?

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

TMI again. Inspired to sign in. There's enough bull. Why on RINF too. Why don't we think before we post. Why do we post just for the sake of posting? Any old bull. I usually keep my mouth shut, but this is time I'm not. This is the alternative. Why just mirror the mainstream?

[Nostalgia]

Originally Posted by Thinking Man's Idiot

TMI again. Inspired to sign in. There's enough bull. Why on RINF too. Why don't we think before we post. Why do we post just for the sake of posting? Any old bull. I usually keep my mouth shut, but this is time I'm not. This is the alternative. Why just mirror the mainstream?

I do think before I post and as I have mentioned in the other thread, I posted to stir debate, which is exactly what it did, and that is what I shall keep doing because that is the purpose of a forum, I do not believe in stifling debate.
And anyway this thread has reminded me that I did not listen to last nights george galloway on five live, but instead I can hear it here