Bengaluru: “Being an integral part of the democratic system, citizens should use their freedom of speech and expression to voice against anyone who tries to suppress their fundamental rights,” said Salman Khurshid, former minister of external affairs, during a chat with Deccan Chronicle.
“We should never be overtly sensitive to any situation that is being orchestrated by anyone with vested interests and instead be ready to fight hard against criminality for our safe sustainability,” he said.
“Perfect democracies are not common and thus imperfect democracies should be treated by peaceful and lawful means,” he added.
Referring to targeted lynching taking place across the country, Mr Khurshid called out that the proposals of particular laws to avoid such instances should be considered seriously. “The cases are at the Supreme Court for hearing. Without delaying the process by waiting for suggestions from outsiders, we should suffice the implements available from the framework of the laws we have now,” he asserted.
Mr Khurshid also shared his belief that the citizens would voice their dissent at the next chance. “We have faith in our people that the same people would never been brought into power again. With social movements shaping up against the current administration, a repetition of the same mistake with dreams of employment, prosperity and welfare being hit will be rejected by the citizenry of this country. A system which ensures such mishaps will never occur again should also be created then,” he said.
Commenting on the recent presidential elections, Mr Khurshid said, “The new President and the to be Vice President should see their office as a greater responsibility than how it was being a member of a party.”
Mr Kurshid had been to the city to chair a panel discussion on “Nation State, Citizenship and Sovereignity” held as part of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar International Conference 2017, organised by the state government.
‘Caste bias continues in Indian media’
Exposing and admitting caste bias in the Indian media, journalists from different publications got together to discuss the ill-effects of the system that is still prevalent. “The profusion of Brahmins observed in the Indian media requires more discussion than the exclusion of Dalits in the same,” said S. Anand, author, publisher and journalist. “From the opposition to the usage of the word Harijan to the stonewalling of Dalit issues being reported and mainstream cinema totally avoiding Dalit representation, the Indian media has always been pro-Brahmin,” he said. He claimed he was known in the industry as “the fair-skinned Brahmin who works with a Dalit agenda.” “The complete colossal neglect of leading publications being let to work as caste-based outfits for more than 60 years now has led to the wolf-at-the-door situation we face today. Social media being used to mobilise people to violence against the minorities is equally disturbing nowadays,” he added. Explaining the impact new media has on people, noted
journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta said the internet has changed the human society and their perspectives. “The internet is a classic double-edged sword which can be used differently in different hands. The proliferation of fake news is rather a disinformation than misinformation. What one reads, listens to and watches is based on what is set on the new media platforms now,” he said.
