Bengaluru, Oct 30: The media has let down Indians and destroyed the renaissance of society, according to veteran Malayalam writer and thinker Paul Zacharia. Delivering a lecture on ‘The writer’s role in speaking out’ at Bangalore Literature Festival, he said that media has surpassed politicians in spreading communalism and hatred.
“The media has let down Indians, and in states like Kerala, has destroyed the renaissance of society… I fear the media more than a politician today. We can hold a politician accountable at least once in five years, not the media,” he lamented.
“I once wrote a story about a robot that could identify the truth, half-truth and lies published in a newspaper. But even the robot couldn’t do it,” he said, adding that most communal agendas were mostly set by the media and later picked up by politicians.
Mr. Zacharia urged writers and citizens to be vigilant and take the risk to speak out. “I am not afraid of Narendra Modi, but I am more concerned of people and forces blindly supporting Narendra Modi. Unless he imposes another Emergency, he is in a government which has multiple checks and balances to keep him in check. But, we need to device ways to be vigilant of the media and the forces that seek to control our thought,” he said.
Citing the murder of activist Gauri Lankesh, he added: “I don’t want to die for speaking my mind. But, there seems to be no alternative but to take a risk.”
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