Desist from giving space to narratives that threaten India's integrity: Thakur

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday urged the media fraternity in the country to remain cautious and desist from giving its space to narratives that threaten the nations integrityUnsubstantiated and illogical opinions delivered freely from within or abroad could not destroy the democratic nature of the country he addedI 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 saidThakur was speaking while participating as a special guest at the valedictory ceremony of the centenary celebrations of eminent Malayalam daily MathrubhumiHe said there is a proverb that states facts are sacred and opinion is freeI 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 said and called upon organisations like Mathrubhumi to develop an effective mechanism to counter these kinds of fake narratives and antiIndia biasNoting that the advent of newer technologies presents a unique opportunity to break barriers the Minister said however there lurks a growing danger of digital colonialism on platforms run by algorithms coded offshore behind the walls of transparencyAlso readWe want to normalize relations with Islamabad Indiarsquos envoy to Pakistan at Lahore eventWe must remain cautious not to accept anything and everything in the name of innovation and modernity Foreign publications companies and organisations with inherent antiIndia 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 saidHis remarks came against the backdrop of Congress leader Rahul Gandhis statement in London that democracy in the country was under brutal attack besides the controversial documentary on Gujarat riots by BBCThakur said these days the word democracy is heard often in public discourse a noble principle of governance has been reduced to a fashion statement by those who have constantly tried to weaken democracy and its institutions in our country Violators are now pretending to be victims he said in an apparent dig the CongressWe must remember that unlike Western countries democracy is not an artificial implant on India iquest 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 tooBut what is amazing is how the bhakshak dressed in white teeshirt is trying to project itself as the rakshak of democracy he said in an apparent reference to Rahul GandhiThakur also criticised the Congress for dismissing the Left government of Kerala in 1959Unable 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 newlyminted 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 saidThakur also alleged that subsequently the Congress government abused Article 356 to sack 93 State governments striking blow after severe blow to democracy in India pulping political diversity and making political differences a punishable offenceNoting that the print medium especially the newspapers hold a significant position in upholding the credibility of news he said from colonial times it enjoyed the power of shaping the public opinion and still does soFrom Kerala to Kashmir among the many threads that unite the diverse people of this great nation possibly the strongest is their belief that India is their motherland their karmabhumi and punyabhumi he saidThe 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 saidThen 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 saidReferring to the recent incidents of attacks on offices and studios of news organisations simply because they do not toe the line and sacking of journalists for defying the certain version of news the minister said such outrageous assaults weaken democracy and its institutionsHe also referred to alleged political attacks on RSS workers in KeralaIt is as outrageous and unacceptable5 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 saidIn his speech Thakur also recalled the contribution of late M P Veerendra Kumar who oversaw the rapid growth of MathrubhumiThe programme inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was also attended by a host of dignitaries including the state Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan Law Minister P Rajeeve and Revenue Minister P RajanMathrubhumi Managing Director M V Shreyamskumar presided over the functionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the 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