New Delhi: Senior Cabinet ministers on Thursday voiced their anger over what they termed irresponsible reporting by sections of the media, particularly television, of the Mumbai violence that some felt sparked panic with their repeated airing and led to a mass exodus from Maharashtra cities.

The ministers expressed their outrage at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was arrested on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and then bailed out.

Cabinet sources told IANS that once Railway Minister Lalu Prasad raised the issue, some ministers described as "irresponsible" and "provocative" the media coverage of the MNS protests that began Feb 3.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil said some television news channels - that he did not name - had been beaming pictures of sporadic trouble frequently, giving a "false impression about the violence and thereby creating panic".

A cabinet minister told IANS: "For once, every minister was furious and everyone agreed that the media coverage caused more trouble."

Thackeray's supporters attacked north Indians - a euphemism for migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh - calling them "outsiders". One minister felt that it was the media that made Thackeray, "a person who tried to strengthen his party by dividing the country," into a hero.

"The media should not forget its social responsibilities when it reports such events. It is high time that there should be some control over such reporting," a minister said, not wanting to be identified.

Source : IANS