Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MD)
Mangaluru, Jun 24: "No one can match the commitment of the media. India’s judiciary and legislature must show commitment towards upholding the law. Media’s duty is to expose scams in India. So far the media has fulfilled its responsibilities and even in future it will do so. No one can shut the mouth of the media. If democracy in India is still safe, then it is because of the efforts of the media,” said former union minister and senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary.
Addressing a press meet at the district Congress office here on Friday July 24, Poojary slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'curbing' the rights of the media.
Poojary said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to bring unannounced Emergency in India. He is trying to make the judiciary and as well as the parliament powerless. The best example is Sun Network. Modi is trying to shut down Udaya TV completely. There are more than 25,000 workers in Sun Network. They have 33 channels and 40 audio centers. The central government has come forward not to give license to Sun Network.
“This is not just about the Sun Network or Udaya TV. It is about the every media in the country. If the media did not exist, then there would not be anybody to question the politicians. If there was no media for one minute, India would be filled with lot of scams. All the media should take a huge protest in this regard. First of all the protest should start from the media. If anybody tries to steal the freedom of media, the whole country will move on the wrong path,” he added.
“The government is doing all these things to support the Ambani company. The whole country knows that CNN-IBN news channel has been taken over by Ambani group. Sun Network belongs to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party which is in the opposition and the Modi government has stepped in to shut it down. Today it is Udaya TV, tomorrow all the media will be shut down," Poojary said.
"PM Modi has become dumb. Many scams have come out in the open in the last month and media is asking for your (Modi's) statements, so why are you not talking? During the elections, you had promised that you would make India a corruption-free country. What happened to that promise? Be a role model to others by taking action on those people who are involved in the scams. Around 50 people have died in the Vyapam scam and thousands of students have been affected. Your own party members are involved in this scam. Why are you not giving any statement on this issue? Speak about this issue in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Let there be debate on this. Don't you have any responsibility to run the parliament sessions?" he questioned the PM.
"Accept that you (Modi) have done mistakes. Be a role model to others. Accept that Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan have made mistakes. If not, prove their innocence. Tell the parliament that it was not a criminal act. What kind of a Prime Minister you are? You are the leader of Lok Sabha, for the country and as well for Poojary also. Stand up and speak up. You are trying to mislead the Delhi government. You are creating a huge gap between the Delhi government and the governor. Delhi governor Lt Najeeb Jung is saying that he himself is the government. If Indira Gandhi was there today, then she would have removed Jung from his post the very next day," he said.
“The latest news is that you have moved forward to form a committee in the Reserve Bank of India by curbing the power of the RBI Governor. I had already predicted before the election that Modi government is making false promises. Your (BJP's) own ally Shiv Sena has already termed Modi as a Hitler,” Poojary concluded.
Shashidhar Hegde, T K Sudheer, Harikrishna Bantwal, Purushotham Chithrapur, Nagendra Kumar and others were also present on this occasion.