Bangalore, Oct 2: Speakers at the 11th anniversary celebrations of Vartha Bharathi Kannada daily expressed concern over the recent developments in the Indian politics and media.
Addressing the gathering at the programme held in Bangalore recently, Dalit writer Devanur Mahadeva accused Indian media of failing to understand the threat posed by the communal leaders.
“Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is often being portrayed in the media as the next Prime Minister of India. Modi and communalism are like twins and they can't live without each other. Unfortunately media was unable to foresee the tragic consequences of a communal and undemocratic leader taking over as PM of this country,” he lamented.
Lashing out at the media for depicting Modi as a “development man”, Mr Mahadeva said that being pro-industry was not the same as being pro-people.
“The liberalisation-privatisation-globalisation policies ushered in by the Congress in the early 1990s were responsible for the troubles of millions of poor people. Modi's model of development was an extreme form of the anti-people model developed by the Congress party's stalwarts such as P.V. Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram,” he said.
Delivering the key-note address, N Ram, former editor-in-chief of The Hindu, congratulated Vartha Bharathi for being a voice of the weaker section of the society for over a decade.
He said that Indian newspapers and news media outlets have a very small percentage of Dalits and Muslims.
“Although there are many eligible and educated Dalits, they are not getting opportunities in the mainstream media. The situation of Muslims is not very different,” he added.
Stating that journalism ethics has declined with the growth of the media industry, Mr Ram said that there are many disturbing trends including paid news. “Too much superstition and obscurantism is being promoted in the media,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Siddaramaiah admitted that there are great social and economic inequalities in society. “Newspapers should give voice to the people who cannot even read them. That's when they will be truly fulfilling their obligation,” he said.
He lashed out at news outlets for trivialising news. “Today, many news outlets, particularly TV news channels, give disproportionate coverage to domestic conflicts as though a husband and wife quarrelling is a national crisis,” he said. Cautioning media outlets against giving space to communal politics, he commended Vartha Bharathi for espousing the cause of all sections of society despite being a newspaper with a Muslim management
Speaking after releasing a special issue of Vartha Bharathi, Dr U R Ananthamurthy blamed the news media for distorting the context of his recent comments on Gujarat chief minister. While reiterating his stand against Mr. Modi, he said, “Many Kannada publications today are openly right wing. But what is worse is that they are also reactionary and as such enemies of society.”
H M Afroze Assadi, Director, Media Communications, Sayyed Abdul Khader, Chairman, Green Valley National School and P U College, Abdussalam Puthige, editor-in-chief, Vartha Bharathi and BM Basheer, news editor, Vartha Bharathi were present among others.
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