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HomeReportFreedom of speech that Indians enjoy today never existed earlier: Meenakshi Lekhi

Freedom of speech that Indians enjoy today never existed earlier: Meenakshi Lekhi

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BJP spokesperson says those who criticise PM Modi tend to ignore his initiatives such as Swachh mission, steps taken for India’s growth, among others.

New Delhi: The freedom of speech that people of India enjoy today never existed earlier, Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi has said.

Her remark came in response to a question on what is seen as decreasing freedom for the media in India. Lekhi was speaking at ThePrint’s ‘Democracy Wall’ at the Vellore Institute of Technology Wednesday.


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Maintaining that it’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi who faces the “the maximum criticism”, she said those who criticise him tend to ignore his initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Mission and his work to spur India’s economic growth.

“Every newspaper is free to criticise the Prime Minister but for doing what? For creating toilets? For increasing the GDP? For changing all the stupid laws which this country didn’t clean up in the past?” Lekhi asked.

The MP was in conversation with ThePrint’s associate editor Rohini Swamy.

“Many publications first carry blogs, articles making fun of the Prime Minister and then say oh! I feel scared now. This is utter non-sense and this narrative has to stop,” she said in a bid to counter the criticism that intellectuals and journalists are feeling threatened under BJP rule.

Drawing a parallel between the state of media freedom under the Congress rule and now, Lekhi said there was a time when “newspapers went blank”, referring to the press censorship imposed by the Indira Gandhi government during Emergency.

When asked what she thinks about the quality of television debates these days, she said such discussions often become frivolous as “they are driven by agenda”.

“Media has a tendency to put a microphone before everyone…sometimes they do it to a person who may not be a good speaker and this could end up demeaning that person,” Lekhi added.

To a question on “politicisation of media”, the BJP spokesperson said that media has turned into a business now.


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“Earlier, law, medicine and journalism were considered to be noble professions. But over a period of time, all of them have become a business,” she said.

“With all this, there is a sense that people who give salary cheques or people who control the advertisements will also control the content or the coverage aspect,” Lekhi said.

“One needs to inculcate the habit of doing a thorough research about the financial aspect of the news company,” she added.

Democracy Wall is a monthly free speech campus initiative organised by ThePrint in collaboration with Facebook.

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