Everyone should speak in one voice on country’s unity & integrity : Naidu

Shashank Shekhar

Ranchi (Jharkhand) : The Vice President of India M Venakaih Naidu on August 10, 2019, said that abrogation of Article 370 was welcomed by people cutting across all political lines in the country. Attending the 35^th Foundation Day celebrations of Hindi daily ‘Prabhat Khabar’ at  Ranchi, Jharkhand, Naidu said the need of the hour was to protect India’s unity, integrity and sovereignty. “As regards to the country’s unity and integrity, we all should speak in one voice,” Naidu stressed.

The Vice-President expressed happiness that both the Houses of Parliament passed the resolution after a thorough discussion. While it was passed with 2/3^rd majority in Rajya Sabha, it secured the support of – 4/5^th members of Lok Sabha. ‘’It speaks volume of wishes of the people of the country and that is the mood of the country,” he said. Naidu said that there was a need for the younger generation of the country to know about Article 370 and its constitutional history.

Pointing out that Article 370 was a temporary and transient provision, the Vice President mentioned that way back in 1964, MPs cutting across party lines including those from ruling party almost unanimously supported a non- official resolution seeking its abrogation. Reading out details of the news item published by a National English daily at that time, the Vice President said that the non- official resolution moved by Prakash Vir Shastri in Lok Sabha was supported by leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, H V Kamat, K Hanumantaiya and others. Quoting from the same news report, he said that the members from Kashmir argued that the state had suffered by not being treated on par with the rest of the country.

Referring to the positive and constructive role of the Fourth Estate, Naidu advised the media to present only facts and unadulterated news and leave the judgment to people. “Do not mix news and views,” he added.  Naidu said that journalism was once considered as a mission to transform the society and the country and observed that a section of the media today was not adhering to the principles and was giving remission to truth. He cautioned the media to guard against fake and paid news and follow a strict verification mechanism before publishing or broadcasting news. He suggested that electronic media should also have its own regulation mechanism on the lines of the Press Council of India.

Governor of Jharkhand Draupadi Murmu, Chief Minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh and other eminent personalities from media were present on the occasion.