You are meeting here for the first time after the change in government at the Centre. It has been a significant change. The way the Government was functioning in the last few years was eroding the liberty of the people and liberty of the Press and the media completely with the result that we were on the brink of a disaster. This erosion was sought to be done more through all these media than through any other agency. The people had no other source of information about many things. This created almost a paralysis of public life in the country which was highly dangerous for the health of the country and destructive of democracy altogether. We have deliberately chosen the democratic way because that is in the foundation of our culture and because it is fundamental to the development of human society.
There are only two ways of Government—the dictatorial way and the democratic way. The dictatorial way depends for its execution only on the instrument of fear and fear is the worst enemy of mankind. While democracy—the democratic way—is the only way which can enable every person to be fearless and also enable him to rise to the highest he is capable of, because it assures him the freedom of thought, speech and action so long as that does not interfere with the similar independence of other people. That is the only restriction that applies to everybody.
The change of Government took place in a very significant way, as it has not taken place anywhere else in the world, very peacefully through the ballot box and it expressed the will of the people. This also made a convincing impact not only on the people of this country, but in the whole world that is very essential for the health of democracy. The Government, therefore, as soon as it took charge, released the Press and the media from all shackles imposed by the previous Government. The Press has been restored complete liberty and the liberty is being used with a vengeance. But I don’t grudge it. It is the right of the Press to say whatever it wants to say without hindrance as long as it does not violate any law of the land, as long as it does not preach violence. Therefore, it should not be interfered with at all. It is their business to annoy the Government when Government deserves to be annoyed. Sometimes they go wrong. It is the liberty also of every person to make mistakes. Without making mistakes we never learn. And therefore, this freedom has been completely restored and we want to see to it that in future nobody is able to put any curbs on the liberty of the Press.
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The other media are Film, the Broadcasting and Television. Of course, then pamphlets and other things are also there. But there are powerful media. We have 70 per cent or to be more exact, 66 per cent of our people illiterate. They cannot read newspapers. They are only carried away by rumours. But this media is available to them and they can get full information from these media and the media are getting more and more available to the people. Radio now is available to crores of people, many people here than anywhere else. Therefore, it can affect very nearly the whole population. Television has not reached all people, but it does reach many people. The film reaches many people because people go with a great gusto more or less for entertainment, and it is more powerful than anything else. Therefore, films cannot be left completely uncontrolled. If they are completely uncontrolled and uncensored, it will work havoc. But they must not be censored in a way which will destroy their liberty. Preaching violence, disorder, permissiveness, all these things, if they are in the film, then they become destructive to human society. Therefore, they have to be censored. But beyond that they ought not to be censored.
We are also making radio and television autonomous. We want to have autonomous corporations to manage them so that it is assured that they are not used only as Government agents.
A Corporation also can be completely destructive. Therefore, it has to be seen that they regulate themselves properly in a proper way and become objective and impartial in what they propagate, i.e., what they propagate is based on facts and on the consideration that the propaganda helps the people to form objective judgment on their own and they are able to get the spirit of truth and fearlessness.
Now, all this will be agreed to, by everybody practically. But it is in implementation that all the mischief lies. That is why a Conference like this assumes great importance because it is here, when views are freely expressed, that you can come to conclusions, which will be healthy if the discussions are objective and not guided by party or political considerations. These are for the good of all the people in which all Governments ought to be interested and should have a common view. The political colour of a Government should not come in the way of the happiness of the people or the rights of the people or their freedom or their fearlessness. Here the State Governments and the Central Government must work in complete cooperation and with an attitude of respect for each other and with the attitude of helping each other and not trying to control each other. This Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Ministry of Information and Public Relations, as it is called in the States in many places, these Ministries are very important from this point of view because they are the instruments of Government to achieve this result. They should also, therefore, work in unity rather than in confrontation. Unity can be achieved if the objectives are agreed to. How objectives should be implemented can be worked out in an objective manner.
Now, what do you want to achieve? We want to see that all news is truthfully conveyed to the people. Therefore, two things have got to be done. One is the accuracy of facts; it must not be based on rumours. We are a country unfortunately in which rumours are rampant. Rumours travel much faster in this country than anything else can travel with that speed. That is what I have myself experience. If there is a rumour here and the next day I got to Kerala, I hear the same thing. That is how it is carried to either Bengal or even to Assam. Rumour can be fought only by a proper dissemination of facts, news and this is what these agencies can do. The news agencies are completely independent. Therefore, you cannot guide them. I do not want you to guide them. But, certainly we have to get in touch with them, we have to discuss with them, exchange views with them and that is how we can educate each other very well and be beneficial to each other in the functioning of each others’ responsibilities. And that is why we attach great importance to Press conferences and meeting individual pressmen for an exchange of views. But the Radio and the Television and the Film give a greater responsibility to the Government. That is where Government direction does a great deal.
Government policies have got to be conveyed not for the boasting of the individuals, but for the importance of the policies which are in the interests of the people. There must be no personal propaganda. That has done a lot of harm. Hero worship may be natural, more natural in this country because it has been in the roots of this country for many many years, but hero worship does more harm to the hero than even those who worship him. But that is forgotten in the worship because worship is liked by everybody. So, we have to guard against all these dangers and see that individuals do not become the basis of any propaganda and that the real basis of propaganda should be correct education in the people through proper dissemination of views, facts and the reactions of the people in a true manner. The people’s reactions also can be conveyed by these media to the Government and they ought to be conveyed in the proper manner, not in a lopsided manner.
Any colouring of news is a wrong propaganda in my view. The news must be completely based on facts. The editorials may say what they like because they are taken as editorials. In the same way, commentaries over Radio and Television by some people will certainly give their own views. But I think people must be so chosen as are found to be objective and not merely propagandists of one side or the other.
The real safeguard in a democracy is a consciousness amongst the people themselves, that they alone can safeguard democracy, if they act properly in every case and if they have the courage to fight against every injustice or against oppression, and the whole purpose of all these media ought to be to see that the people get facts. And that is, I believe the real criterion by which all these media ought to be judged.
I am very glad that I am able to come here today and meet you and talk to you. We can always meet, exchange views and see that we are on a proper path so that the country benefits by what the people have done. That is what you have got to see that these media achieve. I have great pleasure and happiness in inaugurating this Conference.
This is part of ThePrint’s Great Speeches series. It features speeches and debates that shaped modern India.