Bengaluru: “I fear the media more than a politician today. We can hold the politician accountable at least once in five years, not the media, they go scot-free,” said noted Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia. He was delivering a lecture on “the writer’s role in speaking out” on Sunday, the second day of Bangalore Literature Festival.
“Media has let down Indians and in Kerala has destroyed the renaissance of the society. I once wrote a story about a robot that could identify the truth, half-truth and lies published in a newspaper. But even that couldn’t do it,” he said, adding that most of the communal agendas were mostly set by the media and later picked up by politicians.
Mr. Zacharia said that writers and citizens must be vigilant of forces that seek to control our thought. Individuals and writers must take risk to speak out. Gauri Lankesh took that risk and was killed for the very reason, which is sad, he said. “I don’t want to die for speaking my mind. But, there seems to be no alternative to take a risk,” he added.
“I am more concerned of people and forces blindly supporting Narendra Modi than Narendra Modi himself. 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 media and these forces that seek to control our thought,” Mr. Zacharia said.
Published - October 29, 2017 01:42 pm IST
