Indian Prime Minister Nehru was an uncle to journalists too
November 14th 2010 13:59
Indian Prime Minister Nehru was a chacha to journalists too.So should we celebrate the 14th of November as Media Day? Why not? There are several reasons to do so.
Today we have Merinews, free press and half a dozen websites, blogs and newspapers in India, but till today few in journalism and in the media know what Nehru the first Prime Minister of India did for journalists and how this has been completely destroyed by the corporate media.
November 14, 2010 is Children’s Day in India. In fact every 14th November is Children’s Day. Nehru was supposed to be fond of children but because Nehru was extremely fond of journalists too, his birth anniversary should also be celebrated as Media Day.
Nehru believed that the media was a pillar of democracy and had to play the role of the watchdog of democracy. A man with Nehru’s stature had no opposition in the country. He therefore knew that the media had to play the role of opposition to the party in power. Therefore he promoted the media and watched over the interests of media persons like no leader has ever done before. Atleast not a leader as powerful as Nehru.
Nehru had he wanted could have been a despot yet he never believed in any extra constitutional authority. Even though the masses in India worshipped the ground he walked upon he had his feet on the ground.
For the men who worked in the press Nehru created the Working Journalists Act. Under this act a wage policy for journalists was set in motion, newspapers were not given the power to transfer or terminate a journalist for filing a story they did not like. To ensure the freedom of the press in the country he gave a journalist tremendous protection.
Today we see a complete reversal of the situation. The working journalists Act is defunct. It has been replaced with short term contracts. Editors are now confined to markets not editorials. A sad story indeed. India has destroyed Nehru’s vision of a free and unfettered and honest press.
So should we now mourn Nehru’s Birth Anniversary? After all it is a reminder of the failure of Capitalism in our country, The first casualty has been the freedom of the journalist,
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