Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] general secretary Sitaram Yechury has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government of projecting a sense of false consciousness in order to conceal the hard realities of escalating poverty, unemployment and price rise that have affected the country.
He also held the ruling dispensation responsible for paving the way for blind faith, obscurantism and superstition to take over the process of scientific inquiry and rational discourse.
Mr. Yechury was delivering the P. Govinda Pillai commemorative address on the occasion of the 10th death anniversary of the Marxist ideologue that was observed here on Tuesday.
“The country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s watch, has been witnessing the dangers of theistic spirituality that encourages society to accept and justify everything retrograde in the name of religion,” he said.
The CPI(M) leader added a “corporate-communal nexus” has given sanction to disrupt the country’s constitutional order and undermine its independent institutions.
Mr. Yechury presented the P. Govinda Pillai National Award 2022, instituted by the PG Samskrithi Kendram, to N. Ram, Director of The Hindu Publishing Group, for outstanding journalism.
Emphasising the challenges facing journalism, Mr. Ram felt there was a need to “rediscover” value in journalism at a time “when a Hindutva authoritarian regime dominated Indian politics.”
Media freedom in India is under threat with media organisations and individuals increasingly being subjected to pressure, risks, intimidation, threat to survival and direct physical attacks. Journalism also faced an increasing threat through disinformation campaigns that are scaled up through social media, he added.
Terming neutrality a myth, he said journalism can never be value neutral. Journalism always takes sides, he opined.
Delivering the keynote address on ‘Media: New threats and opportunities’, Asian College of Journalism chairman Sashi Kumar said mainstream media faced an existential crisis with Centre increasingly undermining its relevance by addressing its target audience through social media.
Such “undemocratic tendencies” that have been visible in countries, including Philippines, Turkey, Russia, Poland, and Hungary, too are aimed at evading scrutiny in governance.
The P. Govinda Pillai National Award consists of a purse of ₹3 lakh, a sculpture and a citation. Jury chairman and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby presided over the function.
PG Samskrithi Kendram executive director Anavoor Nagappan, executive board member M.G. Radhakrishnan and secretary P.S. Harikumar also spoke on the occasion.
