Centre committed to ensuring media freedom: Prakash Javadekar

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said the BJP-led government at the Centre was committed to ensuring media freedom and recalled the party leaders' fight against emergency in 1975 to protect press freedom. "During the students' movement days, we fought against emergency in 1975 and went to jail to protect media freedom.

"That commitment will remain today also and forever to protect the freedom of media," the minister said while speaking on "New India: Government and Media" at the Malayala Manorama News Conclave here. Noting that there were more than one lakh publications, over 700 TV channels, many web and news portals in the country, the minister said with the help of social media platforms now, nobody can stop anybody from communicating.

That is the power of communication, he said. The minister further said responsible freedom is the essence of a democratic society. He said responsible freedom does not mean regulated freedom but means being responsible while enjoying freedom. Asserting that the government was committed to media freedom, freedom of expression and protests, he said, "That freedom is the essence of democracy and we will ensure that a vibrant democracy wants all these freedom.

That we will ensure." He said the essence of Narendra Modi government's concept of New India is "corruption-free New India, terror-free New India, casteism-free New India, communalism-free New India, poverty-free New India and dirt-free New India."

"We are fighting a battle against cross-border terrorism. New India has to be terror-free India," he said. He said earlier, many people did not cast their vote, but voted for their caste. "Now we are seeing a change, people are exercising their voting right beyond the expression of their caste and that is the best thing to happen for a casteism-free New India," he said.

-PTI

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