Among the union ministers, Nitin Gadkari is known for speaking directly. Some of his comments have created controversies in the past, but that has not deterred him from opening his mouth. Perhaps he derives his strength from his closeness with the Sangh leaders. But the fact remains that Gadkari continues to say what he thinks, regardless of whether those words are politically correct or not.
A couple of days ago, the Union Minister in a programme organised by a news channel, virtually lambasted the electronic media in the country. Many may see it as another example of political interference to keep media under leash. But if one studies Gadkari’s remark carefully, he or she will have no other option but to agree with him as Gadkari has struck the bull’s eye. What ails Indian media, Gadkari has diagnosed correctly. Now it is the turn of the citizens to find the right remedy.
Participating in a discussion in the said event, Gadkari asked the electronic media about the negativity that the news channels project 24X7. “Are you deliberately doing this to boost your TRP, the Union Minister questioned? Explaining the reasons behind questioning the electronic media, Gadkari said that because of such a negative mindset, people doing good works don’t get due respect and on the other hand, those who are bad don’t get punished.
It is sad as well as pathetic to say the least. Who else can better understand the pain of such negativity apart from the North-Eastern populace? The region has achieved many feats to make the nation proud, those achievements have barely been mentioned in the media. But whenever some untoward incident happens, the media never fails to be critical of the region. In short, the North-East has always hit the headlines for wrong reasons.
As a result, sense of alienation has increased manifold, as the mainstream media has been failing at its job. It is more interested in talking about the unrest in the North-East, but has not tried to find the root causes of it. In the 90’s, ruling Congress lost elections in two southern states, while Arunachal was the only saving grace for the party, where the party secured two-third majority. On being asked how the success of Arunachal would boost the morale of the dejected Congressmen, one senior leader of the party commented that Arunachal is too small and far away from mainland to create an impact at the national level. On the contrary, even the municipal election results of Gurugram of Rohatak, gets more coverage in national media.
It is not that after Gadkari’s criticism things will change. The national media will continue to ignore the North-East, deliberately overlook the contributions made by the region in nation building. But one thing is sure that right-thinking people will not be able to ignore the observations made by Nitin Gadkari. The situation will be changed only when these people will come forward and force the media to survive on positivity. Otherwise not only will the media lose its credibility in society, but also weaken democracy as the fourth pillar.
