Veteran journalist P. Sainath has said that the nation is in a crisis. And this crisis is not limited to just the rural area. It has become a national crisis at various areas such as agriculture, education, economy, job creation etc.
He was delivering the endowment lecture on the topic ‘Indian democracy at the post-liberalization and post-truth era’ at Media Manthan 2020 organized by the PG department of journalism and mass communication at St Aloysius College (Autonomous).
Mr Sainath said that the many policies adopted in the 90s led to India becoming unusually unequal. Referring to the speech Ambedkar had made at the Constituent Assembly while handing over the draft of the Constitution, Mr Sainath said, “Ambedkar had warned about the weakness of Indian democracy that liberty without equality allows the supremacy of a few over the multitude. Liberty, equality and fraternity must be kept together as we cannot have one without the other.”
Mr Sainath stated that the agrarian crisis was no longer about the loss of productivity, employment or about farmer suicide; it was a societal, civilizational crisis. Commenting on the lopsided policies such as cow-slaughter ban, he explained how cow slaughter ban had adversely affected many industries due to their interdependency. While Muslims who slaughtered cows were rendered helpless, the cattle traders who were mostly OBCs lost their earnings as the cattle prices crashed. An important industry like Kolhapur sandals industry in Maharashtra went bankrupt as a result of the cow slaughter ban in Maharashtra. He said the policymakers had no idea how the rural industries were interconnected. Demonetisation too devastated the rural economy as 98 percent of rural transactions happen through cash.
Mr Sainath also spoke about the crisis of inequality which affects the Dalits and the Adivasis far more than anyone else as 90 percent of the rural households take home less than Rs 10,000/- per month. “Women are yet another group whose labour is never counted in the gross domestic product. Women and girls globally do unpaid work which amounts to about 12.5 billion working hours per year. Monetarily speaking, this is worth 10.8 trillion dollars,” Mr Sainath added.
Speaking about the crisis of jobs Mr Sainath said that major companies were laying off employees just to create more profits for the investors and the adoption of artificial intelligence in the industry would further destroy millions of jobs.
Rector of St Aloysius College Institutions Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ, Principal Dr (Fr) Praveen Martis SJ, HOD of Journalism and Mass Communication department Dr (Fr) Melwyn Pinto SJ were present.
‘Veerappan and Vijay Mallya’s business models are interesting!’
Addressing the gathering during his endowment lecture on Friday, Mr Sainath made an interesting comment on the so called ‘revenue model’. “Whenever I visit IIMs and IITs for lectures on my PARI project, the students there ask me what my revenue model for my project is. I tell them that I do not have a revenue model. In fact, journalism does not begin with a revenue model. Gandhiji, Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh were all great journalists. But they did not have a revenue model,” Mr Sainath said.
On a lighter note, he said that the best revenue model that he liked was that of forest brigand Veerappan and liquor baron Vijay Mallya. “Veerappan ruled the forest for forty years and from the top ministers to the villagers he could dictate terms and liver royally. Similarly, Mallya’s revenue model was to steal the banks and run away abroad and live like a king,” Mr Sainath added.
Journalism is not and can never be a business. It is a calling, he opined. While newspaper can be a business, television can be a business, journalism per se cannot be reduced to a business. “Unfortunately today, journalists are recruited on a contract basis and they have no bargaining power; and there are no unions to fight for their cause. Hence, they are at the mercy of the corporate media houses for their survival and are made to write stories that cannot be called journalism,” Mr Sainath said.
Answering a question as to the pressures he faced as a journalist, he said that external pressures from the government or others could be very well handled. It is the internal pressures from once own media house that journalists find it difficult to manage.
Comments
muhammad rafique, you cant tell me what i should do . theres nothing like behaving like a muslim. i know what i have done. i am not trying to impress the management or any of the members. i did what was right. i am not against anyone . But, protesting against the college was not an option. i dont want you to fight (if you knew about islam you would also know what violence is haram) .
Thanks for helping me understand that you are a girl student .
dear sister it's better not drag my family members here.
firstly I didnt comment on you personally unless you are Naureen. i still wonder how can someone feel instigated with the phrase "justice for scarf and namaz" '
Mr. Narang kotian, we don’t want your sympathy , don’t pull down Pakistan’s politics to us keep quit.
Mr Rafeeq,
You need not to teach me where to raise my voice and where not. I also have the right to hide my identity (just like you have right to wear hijab). By the way, instead of asking me to show the guts, ask the female members of your family. Mind your tongue while arguing with a girl
why commenting with anonymous identify ? have guts to reveal yourself
why are you silent when cheddi goons have been creating ruckus in the name of moral policing?
give your suggestions to morons like pumpwell, etc
Congrats to Naureen. Muslim girls like you are asset of the nation. Don’t hesitate to go and file complaint against those who issue you threats. They are jihadists. People like them had tried to kill Malala too. I am sure that you will face more threats in future from thirbokis. But believe me, the more threats you receive, the more you become stronger.
Jai Hind
CFI has only these 3 members..! in thier protests, always these 3 people. No other people is there for them. Somehow they managed to get few girls this time for the protests.
I wont believe a muslim father will tell against issue if the intention is true. I believe CFI using that girl and politicising the issue.
Appreciate the courage of Naureen, who braved threats and issued a bold statement. All are with you. Don’t worry. Let the misogynists go to hell.
Mr Rafeeq. First you behave like a Muslim by understanding the issue. What’s the meaning of your question? Whats the meaning of asking justice for scarf & namaz? What happened in Agnes is its internal issue. You need not to send your sister or daughter to this college. Stop giving ur bullshit advices to other girls.
CFI supports only unwanted issues.
Was it too bad than your right wing folks have been spreading hatred against muslims?
Sister Naureen, what is wrong in asking justice for scarf & namaz?
First try to learn what Islam is and behave like a Muslim. Rather being a office bearer of a student council and impress upon the management and others .
Admin of the jihadist whatsapp group 'Justice for Scarf and Namaz' must be arrested immediately. This group is responsible for all the confusion. One of my Muslim friends showed me the conversations in the group. It was too bad
Some students were used by the CFI and some by the college. Please allow the students to lead the life as they wish and concentrate on education. Keep communal hatred away from the campus
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