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'Scribes should focus on democracy



?Scribes should focus on democracy in neighboring countries?

Sudeshna Ghosh
Times of India, Pune, Maharashtra State
September 19, 2000

?Impunctuality is the special preserve of politicians,? is how former Union 
minister Ram Jethmalani began his address at the inauguration of a three-day 
workshop on ?Media and democracy ? the Asian experience?, at the IUCAA 
auditorium, here on Monday.

Although of to a late start, the inaugural event set the pace for a workshop 
that promised to be exciting and relevant in the modern global context.

This seminar is an attempt by the Mizzima News Service, an organization of 
Burmese journalists in exile, in association with the Symbiosis Institute of 
Mass Communication (SIMC), to bring to light the repression of democracy and 
free press in Burma and to encourage young journalists of the region.

Jethmalani, in his address, dwelt on his first-hand experience during the 
Emergency in India, saying, ?The test of democracy lies in imposing it on 
those you do not like, not on those you love.? He pointed out that, ?Apart 
from the death of the free press, the power to detain people without trial 
leads to the demise of democracy.?

Mentioning his personal crusade against preventive detention, he said, ?The 
hallmark of democracy is an independent and vigilant judiciary.?

Touching upon Burma, Jethmalani said, ?My journalist friends will write 
about anything, but will not write about Burma. It is high time the press in 
India started talking about destruction of democracy in neighboring 
countries as it is like an infectious disease that may overtake us before we 
know it.?

Also present as the keynote address speaker was noted journalist Kuldeep 
Nayar, who expressed his strong views on the lack of objectivity in 
journalism today.

?In newsrooms, certain news stories are killed because they do not suit the 
establishment. We are the eyes and ears of the reader. If a journalist falls 
to be objective, he has died as a journalists,? he said.

?Today, news is tittle-tattle... nothing beyond half-clad actresses, fashion 
or night clubs,? he said, urging budding journalists to have a commitment 
towards democracy and ideology.

Leading and filmmaker Prahlad Kakar also ventured an opinion speaking from 
his personal experience in Burma. ?If a country ceases to dream, then the 
people there cease to live. All the people in Burma still have the capacity 
to dream, and thus there is hope?.

The editor of the Mizzima News Service also spoke on the occasion and 
thanked journalists from all over India for participating in this unique 
seminar.

Director of the SIMC Professor Ujjwal Choudhury also spoke on the occasion.


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