O n February 3, 1916, the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa burned down. The fire started in the reading room packed with newspapers and records going back to a century. It spread quickly, consuming the structure. Seven people died. The next day, at 3:00 p.m., Parliament reconvened. Overnight, the country’s administration had found space for it at the Victoria Memorial Museum. A press gallery was installed on a bridge between staircases.

I recently read this account. What struck me was that a press gallery was established even in a makeshift Parliament.

The media is not an inconvenience. It is an elementary part of a parliamentary democracy, especially in a country such as India. The first Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha, M.N. Kaul, said, “Under the British system [which India mimics] th

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