By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta Tuesday criticized the Indian electronic media for its allegedly unrestrained coverage of the Mumbai terror attack, including the live telecast of the anti-terror operation.
“It requires a certain amount of restraint when it is an ongoing operation. Do we really need to see it minute by minute? Because there are tactical implications…,” Mehta said while interacting with the media for the first time after the terrorist strike of last week.
“Everywhere the media is an enabling instrument, but here it is a disabling instrument,” he lamented.
After sneaking into Mumbai Wednesday night, at least 11 gunmen fired at people at a busy railway station and a popular cafe and held hostages at two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre. The hostage crisis lasted nearly 60 hours and several news TV channels provided uninterrupted coverage of the terrorist attack.
However, the electronic media has been criticized for airing operational details of the then ongoing offensive against the terrorists holding up inside the hotels and the Jewish centre.
“The operation was going on and you (media) showed live commandos being dropped (from helicopters). They (terrorists) were in contact with their masters. Even if the TVs inside the hotels were switched off, their masters were watching whatever was coming on the TV,” Mehta added.
At least 183 people lost their lives and over 200 injured in the terror attacks.