Dear Editor,

Mr C.N. Sharma, the owner of Channel 6 television station was recently beaten by two men at West Coast Demerara. It was reported that he suffered injuries to his head and body for which he was hospitalised.

Mr Sharma uses his television station to slander, abuse and scandalise people, especially those who are in government. He verbally attacks the president, ministers, policemen and others as he sees fit. He professes to know who is stealing, who is corrupt and who must resign. He passes his own judgement.

Mr Sharma must realise that he cannot make serious allegations against people's character on public television. If he knows who are stealing and who are corrupt there are means to go about to bring them to justice. I am not saying that he must not enjoy freedom of speech but he must act professionally. The irony of this situation is that when civilians strike back the government is blamed. With no evidence, opposition parties lay the blame squarely at the feet of the PPP/Civic government.

We can recall when Father Darke was murdered by members of the House of Israel because he was photographing a picketing exercise. He was mistaken for Father Andrew Morrison, editor of the Catholic Standard.

This government does not attack and beat people for exercising their rights. If they were doing that several persons would have been attacked and libel actions filed.

Constructive criticism is welcome. Mr Sharma must learn that not all complaints merit attention, they should be investigated first.