Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday urged the media fraternity within the nation to stay cautious and desist from giving its house to narratives that threaten the nation’s integrity. Unsubstantiated and illogical opinions, delivered freely from inside or overseas, couldn’t destroy the democratic nature of the nation, he added.
“I urge the media fraternity to remain cautious and desist from giving its space intentionally or unintentionally to such voices and narratives that have the potential to threaten the integrity of India,” he mentioned. Thakur was talking whereas collaborating as a particular visitor on the valedictory ceremony of the centenary celebrations of eminent Malayalam day by day “Mathrubhumi”.
He mentioned there’s a proverb that states information are sacred and opinion is free. “I want to emphasise here that the democratic nature of our great nation will always remain a fact, no matter how many unsubstantiated and illogical opinions are delivered freely from within or abroad,” Thakur mentioned, and known as upon organisations like Mathrubhumi to develop an efficient mechanism to counter these sorts of faux narratives and anti-India bias.
Noting that the arrival of newer applied sciences presents a singular alternative to interrupt boundaries, the Minister mentioned, “however there lurks a growing danger of digital colonialism on platforms run by algorithms coded offshore behind the walls of transparency.”
“We must remain cautious not to accept anything and everything in the name of innovation and modernity. Foreign publications, companies and organisations with inherent anti-India bias peddling distorted facts must be identified and called out. Here the Indian media which understands the ground reality will have to play a crucial role”, Thakur mentioned.
His remarks got here against the backdrop of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s assertion in London that democracy within the nation was underneath “brutal attack”, moreover the controversial documentary on Gujarat riots by BBC. Thakur mentioned lately the phrase ‘democracy’ is heard usually in public discourse; a noble precept of governance has been diminished to a trend assertion by those that have always tried to weaken democracy and its establishments in our nation. Violators at the moment are pretending to be victims, he mentioned in an obvious dig the Congress
“We must remember that unlike Western countries, democracy is not an artificial implant on India – it is an integral and indestructible part of our civilisational history. The sabhas and samitis that existed in other parts of Bharat Varsha, also existed in what is now known as Kerala. Democracy existed then, it exists now, and it shall exist in the future too”.
“But what is amazing is how the ‘bhakshak’, dressed in white tee-shirt, is trying to project itself as the ‘rakshak’ of democracy,” he mentioned, in an obvious reference to Rahul Gandhi.
Thakur additionally criticised the Congress for dismissing the Left authorities of Kerala in 1959. “Unable to tolerate the fact that the people of Kerala had not voted the ruling party to power, the Government of the time invoked Article 356 of the newly-minted Constitution of India to sack the Left Government. The Congress got away with impunity. It was the first gross misuse of the Constitution”, the minister mentioned.
Thakur additionally alleged that subsequently, the Congress authorities ‘abused’ Article 356 to sack 93 State governments, placing blow after extreme blow to democracy in India, pulping political variety and making political variations a punishable offence. Noting that the print medium, particularly the newspapers maintain a big place in upholding the credibility of reports, he mentioned from colonial instances it loved the facility of shaping the general public opinion and nonetheless does so.
From Kerala to Kashmir, among the many many threads that unite the varied individuals of this nice nation, probably the strongest is their perception that India is their motherland – their karmabhumi and punyabhumi. he mentioned. “The newspaper (Mathrubhumi) Kesava Menon founded is a tribute to this unshakeable belief. Unfortunately, and I mean it literally, there are some who do not believe so. For them, India is not their motherland. They have a fatherland5 which is a foreign country from where they derive their foreign ideology,” he mentioned.
“Then there are those who misquote the Constitution and have no knowledge of the Constituent Assembly debates, to describe our nation as a mere Union of States. This shapes their narrow, spiteful politics, which, in many ways, is alien to the core identity of India”, he mentioned. Referring to the current incidents of assaults on places of work and studios of reports organisations, “simply because they do not toe the line” and sacking of journalists “for defying the certain version of news”, the minister mentioned such outrageous assaults weaken democracy and its establishments. He additionally referred to alleged political assaults on RSS staff in Kerala.
“It is as outrageous and unacceptable,5 the ceaseless attacks on those who hold a different political view and have strong feelings for their Motherland in Kerala. The brutal attempt to silence them has failed. I pay my humble tribute to those men and women who stood up for their Dharma and whose only fault was that they were associated with the RSS. The attacks on them weaken democracy; their courage, forbearance and steadfastness strengthens democracy”, Thakur mentioned.
In his speech, Thakur additionally recalled the contribution of late M P Veerendra Kumar, who oversaw the fast progress of Mathrubhumi. The programme, inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was additionally attended by a bunch of dignitaries together with the state Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, Law Minister P Rajeeve and Revenue Minister P Rajan. Mathrubhumi Managing Director M V Shreyamskumar presided over the operate.
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