Leaders from several political parties criticised the role of television channels in the Rajya Sabha and alleged that they were behind whipping up passions, trivialising the debate on the Kashmir unre
Leaders from several political parties criticised the role of television channels in the Rajya Sabha and alleged that they were behind whipping up passions, trivialising the debate on the Kashmir unrest and dividing the opinion of viewers on communal lines.
Leading the charge against the media during a short discussion on the situation in Kashmir, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that though he was a staunch supporter of press freedom, some recent discussions on television channels have come as a threat to the unity of the nation.
He expressed disappointment with the kind of television coverage pertaining to the Kashmir situation. “Some prime-time shows have also attempted to divide the nation on communal lines,” he said. Rather than being rational and reflecting sanity, these shows have only fanned passions, he added. The senior Congress lead-er also singled out foreign authors like Tarek Fatah and Taslima Nasreen for vitiating the atmosphere in the country.
“They place four Hindu and four Muslim fundamentalists on their panel, who then fight each other and inflame passions among the people on communal lines,” Mr Azad said.
Making it clear that he was not blaming newspapers which, he said, generally maintained a balance in reporting, Mr Azad said certain channels have lowered the level of debate in the country.
“It is a great achieveme-nt that Hindus and Musl-ims of this nation are still united, despite the daily dose of communalism inj-ected by these prime-time news shows,” he said.
JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav also said the government has failed to restrain the electronic media.
