NEW DELHI: It is deeply regrettable that certain Indian politicians are of late becoming increasingly intolerant towards the media and are not behaving in a manner which is expected of them in a democracy.
The latest instance of such undemocratic behaviour is the alleged statement of a senior politician that he will break the camera of a journalist when asked about some allegations against him. Before that there was a statement of a chief minister of a certain state that a section of the media is doing dadagiri and spreading negative canards about the state government. Earlier, in some states some political workers (evidently on the orders of their leaders) had physically assaulted media people and even vandalised the office of a leading newspaper in Mumbai.
Politicians must realise that in a democracy, people have a right to criticise them and the media has a right to inquire about the activities of politicians and inform the public about them. In a democracy, it is the people who are supreme, and politicians are only servants of the people. Since people are the masters in a democracy, they have a right to know how their servants (which includes politicians, judges, bureaucrats, policemen, etc.) are functioning, and it is often through the media that they know about this. The media thus acts as an agent of the people for giving them information about their servants.
Intolerant behaviour by politicians has no place in a democracy. If something untrue is published about a politician he certainly has a right to get his rejoinder published, but losing one’s balance or giving an ugly display of temper is just not acceptable in a democracy.
Justice Markandey Katju
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2012.
