BSF Director General KK Sharma

Dear Commander Sharma,

As you are aware, the private television media companies in our country are Target Rating Points (TRP) driven.

The higher the TRP, better the revenues.

The race for higher TRPs may sometimes obfuscate reason or concern for national security in case of certain journalists.

At this point, national security is in news. Hence, the media is racing against each other to beam informative and edgy news on the issue.

To our horror,  we have seen some media groups report from sensitive border posts and installations. Some visuals try to establish the fact that it is a vital border post. The narrative that accompanies some of these TV news reports state clearly that the border post is vulnerable to attacks from terrorists.

When we are told that our borders are not safe, it unsettles us. We watch the reports more closely and worry.  A lot of people do that at the same time. This translates into better TRP ratings for the channel.

Sir, in the BSF service manual, there is no provision for letting private media companies anywhere near sensitive border posts.

Also, we all know that there cannot be any right or freedom that compromises our national security.

Sir, we urge you to stop this dangerous trend. In our country, the media has all the freedom they want. But to expressly grant them permission to film and broadcast vital border installations has no logic. In our opinion, to let them project that our borders are weak is akin to compromising our national security.

Sir, can you please instruct your officials not to favour a section of the media?

If you want, hold a press conference by all means. But why let in some elements who would say that particular points on our border are vulnerable?

Regards,

A group of concerned Indian citizens