India has free press, and it really works: US official

Washington, April 22

A top US official has lauded the freedom of the press in India and the role of journalists in supporting democracy in the world’s most populous country.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu said that “there is nothing that’s kept secret there. You have India as a democracy in part because you have a free press that really works.”

Nothing kept secret

I know the media market is changing but there is nothing that’s kept secret there. Donald Lu, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia

“I know the media market is changing. But I have such respect for the freedom of the press in India,” Lu said.

“I can remember going into MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) once and seeing a senior person with files stacked up to the ceiling because he was processing a Right For Information request. And he was complaining bitterly about having to do this and I could only laugh because we have to do the same thing in our bureaucracy where if someone asks for a document, I have to spend several days finding the document for them because that’s what democracy does,” he said.

Lu appreciated the role of the journalists and the work they do to support Indian democracy.