By Jacob Peenikaparambil
Indore: The call for protecting the Constitution of India reverberated at the national convention of Christian media persons held at Indore in Madhya Pradesh state.
Speakers at the March 9 convention underscored the constitution as the foundation of India’s democracy and voiced concern over attempts to replace it with one that is patterned on “Manusmriti,” an ancient legal text of Hindus.
The ideology, policies and actions of the federal government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party points to this plan, they said.
The convention was organized by the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) on the theme, “Print Media and Indian Democracy.”
Ram Puniyani, a human rights activist engaged in promoting communal harmony, in his keynote address, underscored the Indian Constitution as the “backbone” of democracy in the country.
According to him, organizations that do not want democracy in the country have come to power. The politics in the name of Hinduism has nothing to do with Hinduism. “Today religion is being used to attack democracy. Hinduism is abused left, right and center,” he bemoaned.
The anti-democratic forces spread misconception and hatred, leading to communal violence, said the 72-year-old former professor of biomedical engineering and senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The misconception being spread is that all Muslims are terrorists and all Christians are bent upon converting poor people to Christianity, he added.
He reminded media persons their great responsibility to combat the wrong notions by disseminating the truth.
A J Philip, a prominent journalist based in New Delhi, noted that democracy has now become the autocracy of the majority. The role of the media is to bring out truth, but in India it is facing a credibility crisis, he said.
Even though social media is getting prominence today, the print media continues to play a crucial role in India, added Philip, who has worked with India’s leading newspapers at top editorial level.
Shravan Garg, who has more than four decades of experience in English, Hindi and Gujarati journalism, regretted that the print media has failed to inform people the current happenings. “Nobody is dictating the media, nor is there censorship now. Even then things are not being reported. There is a fear of something unknown among journalists,” he noted.
According to his analysis, after the September 11 terrorist attack in the USA a lot of things are happening all over the world in the name of national security. “In the name of protecting citizens, their rights are being taken away. All our personal data is with the government and it is watching our movements,” Garg added.
Bishop Salvadore Lobo of Baruipur, in his opening speech, recalled a recent appeal by the Indian bishops to make the Constitution of India more widely known in all sectors of Church and society.
The biennial plenary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) at Bengaluru in February also called for highlighting the Constitution’s salient features such as the equality of all citizens, the freedom of religion, the freedom of conscience and the freedom of expression. Bishop Lobo, who is the chairperson of the CBCI Office of Social Communication, reminded the gathering that journalism should stand for peace, trust, harmony and become the voice of the voiceless.
Father Suresh Mathew, editor of Indian Current, contented that the media in India is controlled by the government through harassment and threats. He cited the arrest of cartoonist G Bala and the raid on the office of Prannoy Roy, founder chairperson of New Delhi Television as examples.
The Capuchin priest noted that the prime minister has not given any press conference in the past four years he is in the office. His engagement with public is limited to tweets, he added. The widespread fear among the journalists is due to the vindictive attitude of the government. The purpose of the media is to communicate to the rulers the aspirations and agonies of the ruled, Father Mathew asserted.
Father Varghese Alengaden, founder of Universal Solidarity Movement of Value Education for Peace, said both democracy and print media have become hollow. People’s representatives are being purchased. Media people are also being purchased because of degeneration of values. “How many of us are ready to tell the truth?” he challenged those present.
During the convention, the editor of Indian Currents received ICPA “Louis Careno Award for Excellence in journalism.” The award was given for the weekly magazine’s bold stand against communalism and fundamentalism.
The ICPA also honored Father M D Thomas for his exceptional contribution to Hindi Christian literature and four other members of ICPA for their contribution as journalists. Chinmay Mishra from Indore, a writer, thinker and social activist, was honored for his contribution to the promotion of art and literature.