The National Union of Journalists (India) is shocked to find that the West Bengal Government has instructed the public libraries to subscribe only to a few newspapers of the state to the exclusion of other many well-known dailiesa nd magazines. This is a serious attack on the freedom of the Press as it deprives public the freedom to choose what they want to read from among the wide range of newspapers in the state. The NUJ(I) regrets such an act of discrimination against the leading dailies and favouring of the others should happen under the specific direction of Smt. Mamata Banerjee who came to power against the high handed anti-Press freedom measures of the previous ruling party. It would be a sad day for West Bengal and the country if the public were to conclude from such events that politicians in power have no compunction in throttling democracy and freedoms irrespective of the party they belong to. NUJ (I) calls upon the West Bengal Chief Minister to rescind the circular and let libraries chose the newspapers they believe their members want to read. We may remind Smt. Mamata Banerjee that newspapers are by their very nature the watch dogs of public interest and therefore every democratic government must respect this function of a free Press. The experience of the hated Emergency should not be forgotten. Ras Bihari Secetary General