IP: 122.*.*.* India

Assalamu alaikum,

Bro.Muthuvaappa, you have made one observation (regarding approval of comments) and one accusation (regarding picture of Mr.Kassali in the homepage).

1) Regarding comments page, kindly note it was created few months back to record public opinion on news items posted. It is a moderated page - meaning messages are checked before being published online. You have rightly said no message which is vulgar should be allowed. In addition to vulgarity, please note, we also check for accuracy, whether allegation is proven or not, check for personal insults, check for decency in language, check for relevance, check those that can ignite religious feelings etc.

On cheque fraud issue, about 8 news items have been published in the Website. Please note, of the 8 news items, only one was direct police report. All other news items were sought out by Kayalpatnam.com through its sources. If we are not interested in this story, we would have just waited for the news to come to us.

So far about 35 comments have been approved in the website on the matter. Almost every comment approved on the issue is critical of the people suspected (Mr.Kassali and his brother) in the issue. A few comments have been edited and some rejected for various reasons. The reasons include vulgarity in language (பெருச்சாளி ... for example), offensive (நாயை குளிப்பாட்டினாலும் ... for example), assuming that a person is guilty even before a case has been filed against him (துணைத்தலைவராக இருந்த நீங்கள், பணத்தலைவர் ஆக நினைத்தது ஏனோ..??, கஸ்ஸாலி காக்கா..... நீங்களா இப்படி பண்ணிட்டீங்கோ ?) etc.

Users have the liberty to post whatever is there in their mind. However, as people who run the Website, we have certain responsibilities. We cannot come to conclusions based on suspicions. We are responsible for not just the news we post, we are also legally responsible for user comments that are hosted in the Website. Please understand that.

2) You have also made one allegation regarding the picture of Mr.Kassali in the homepage. You have written கசாலி மரைக்கார் அவர்களுடைய புகைப்படத்தை இன்னும் ஏன் தாங்கள் நீக்காமல் இருக்கின்றீர்கள் என்ற கேள்வி காயல் மக்கள் அனைவருடைய மனதிலும் ஒரு கேள்வி குறியாகவே இருக்கின்றது.

I have explained this a couple of times through comments page and will explain again.

First of all, this is an immature demand. I am sorry to use this word, but it is still an immature demand. Kayalpatnam.com is not a court to punish people. And interviews are not published honouring a person. Interview with Mr.Kassali was published in his capacity as Vice Chairman of the Municipality to explain the new water scheme. It was published in the last week of December - well before the cheque fraud case came to light.

You have further alleged என் நண்பர் ஒருவர் கூறுகையில் கசாலி மரைக்கார் பதவியில் இருந்த காலத்தில் நாம் அவரை வைத்து தான் நகராட்சி செய்திகளை பெற்று வந்தோம் அதனால் அவரையும் நாம் பகைத்து கொள்ள முடியாது ஆகையால் ஒரு வாரம் கழித்து அவருடைய புகைப்படத்தை நீக்குவதாக தங்கள் தரப்பில் இருந்து கூறியதாக அவர் கூறினார். இந்த தகவல் உண்மை தானா ?

This is a total lie. Since you have made this allegation, it would only be fair if you also reveal the name of your friend - to whom we have allegedly uttered those words. That just isn't true.

It is true - on many occasions, Mr.Kassali gave information about municipality meetings, resolutions etc as news to us. What is wrong in that? Secondly, if we are so worried about angering/upsetting Mr.Kassali, why would we post news at all about the cheque fraud matter, revealing the suspects names, his movement, enquiry etc - even before the police has made a statement on the matter?

Finally, we understand your sentiments about the cheque fraud issue. As citizens of Kayalpatnam, we also share your sentiments. As people who run the Website, we cannot let our sentiment take control of our responsibility.