New Delhi, July 17 (Bureau) The book launch event of the latest offering by senior journalist Rashid Kidwai held on Saturday saw a freewheeling discussion on the current state of public communication in the spheres of news media, social media and politics by three veterans of their respected fields. Congress leader and Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, Chief of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit Baijayant Jay Panda and chairman of news agency ANI Prem Prakash, shared their views on the current state of public discourse by politicians in an hour-long panel discussion. Prakash was direct in acknowledging that intolerance has invaded every aspect of public communication, whether in news, politics or on social media.”The previous generation of politicians that gave stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were respectful to their opponents while attacking them. That sense of civility has been lost. We see leaders getting intolerant today. The harsh and even abusive language is used to criticise the opponents now, which is not right,” he said.
BJP leader Jay Panda did not agree with the intolerance picture projected by Prakash. However, he acknowledged that the civility in public discourse was deteriorating.”The amount of respect politicians give while criticising each other, is not the same that it used to be earlier. It should be self-introspected,” he said.The long discussion, which started with the public discourse, also touched on the current scenario of Indian politics, including the burning topic of crossover by the politicians. Sharing his concern, the Congress leader said that such crossovers were unjustifiable, if only done to be in power.”At one time, parties used to split on ideology and issues like communist parties. Now what is happening is only to remain in power. In the last few years, many unjustifiable cross-overs have happened only to be in power not on issues and ideology. It is very concerning,” he said.The Deputy CM also expressed his worry about muzzling the voice of opposition in Parliament. “Over the last few years, there is less tolerance for everything that is opposed to. With a nation full of diversity, we ought to have varied views and opinions.
The ‘one size fits all’ kind of ideology on every decision will only further the societal fault lines,” Pilot said.”The parliamentary process is being scuttled. The Bills are passed without discussion. The standing committees are not advised. Such arbitrariness will weaken the democracy,” he added.Rasheed Kidwai’s latest book “Leaders, Politicians, Citizens: Fifty Figures Who Influenced India’s Politics” provides more than a sneak peek into the lives of 50 extraordinary politicians, who have left an indelible mark on the post-Independence years.