Re: Is India a model Democracy?

[Padmanabha Rao <kvprao@igidr.ac.in>]

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 On Sun, 31 Dec 2000 vamsi@siliconcorp.com wrote:
  I hope this is not an argument for state sanctioned media control?  If
  it is, it is a very bad one.  Can we say that the Government is as bad
  (certainly during times of war) to manipulate media to serve its own
  interests?... Is it not clear that violence in Kashmir and other states
  is a way for the public to vent their frustrations...  violence is an
  instinctive form of communication when the oral expression is
  suppressed.... The role of local radio such as FM is to provide general
  information which may not have immediate value.  power to interpret the
  information should be left up to the people and not up to anyone on this
  forum or any individual in the Government to impose unnecessary controls
  over the media!!

I am really sorry I feel tired to debate this. I have some questions
however that I think will shed some light: One, is the parliament (and all
its executive organs therefore) assumed to be removed from the electorate
which establishes it periodically ? If yes, no arguments can be made for
democrasy and the assumption is the answer for the question you pose. Two,
isn't violence a reaction when one is not understood, rather than merely
barred from expressing orally ? Oral expression is only a means to seek
being understood [and co-operated with], not an end in itself. Of course
it doesn't mean it should be barred, only that if the facility also has a
potential for disutility to even one person other than the originator, it
needs to be policed in the interests of democrasy. Three, if the FM
supplies information that is not of immediate value then that wouldn't be
defined as "Current-Affairs" or "News", would it ? It would be a
documentary or entertainment for rationality or whatever. Maybe the answer
lies in defining "immediate".

Thanks.

Padmanabha Rao



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