Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday said the media should appreciate and support good schemes of the State government as only that would ensure its criticism of the government’s functioning is ‘respected and valued’.
Speaking at the book release function of ‘Kalaignar 100: Vikatanum Kalaignarum’ , Mr. Stalin said, “If you [media houses] write only criticisms and not support anything that the government does, there will be no value to the criticism. A neutral media should support what is right and show what is wrong. I appeal to Tamil Nadu media houses to act that way.... not for myself, but for the people. Democracy, secularism, social justice and brotherhood are being threatened. We will protect it politically, but that is not enough. The fourth estate should perform its duty.”
Mr. Stalin said that media houses such as Anandha Vikatan and The Hindu supported the freedom movement against the British. “Only if democracy is safeguarded, the media can survive. Whether it is Supreme Court or Election Commission of India or other institutions -- when they are being threatened, the media has the responsibility to safeguard democracy,” he said.
While recalling the close relationship between S.S. Vasan and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi over the years, Mr. Stalin said, “In 2010, my good friend and senior journalist, Solai, wrote a book about me titled ‘Stalin: Mootha Pathirikkaiyalar Parvaiyil’, which was published by Vikatan Publications. Now, Kalaignar 100 is also being published by Vikatan. This shows that the friendship between two families spans many generations.”
Mr. Stalin said that one would feel like reliving former Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s life while reading the book. “One could say that the book is like his diary. The book contains interviews during important events, his repartees to journalists and the articles written by him. Thalaivar Kalaignar has written about his journey in the film industry over 60 weeks... one can understand the history of 50 years of cinema,” he said.
N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Ltd., said the book had brought out the relationship between Kalaignar and the media. “The relationship between Kalaignar and media has been reflected clearly and powerfully through interviews, poems, essays, short stories. It is a special book,” said Mr. Ram.
Reiterating that Kalaignar excelled as a short story writer, novelist, screenplay writer and a journalist, Mr. Ram said, “Most journalists say that he was accessible irrespective of their ideological and political leanings. His repartees were brilliant and was sought after by journalists. He stood firm by secularism, democracy, State autonomy, self-respect... he opposed caste discrimination and untouchability.”
Mr. Ram said Kalaignar supported freedom of the press, freedom of speech and expression. “Today, these are under attack in many States in India. But, Tamil Nadu holds a proud place in India. Chief Minister Stalin is similar to Kalaignar. He is accessible,” he said.
Makkal Needhi Maiam founder and actor Kamal Haasan recalled his close relationship with Karunanidhi. “The message of Kalaignar’s life is ‘protest’. Right from the beginning, he threatened to die by suicide if he was not admitted to school and that he would not tie a cloth in his waist to play Nagaswaram in an upper caste home. He encountered dismissal of his government twice, his party split twice. He experienced emergency, MISA and he had to protest for his place even after his death,” he said
He supported writers, gave tax exemptions for films with Tamil titles. He had written 178 books, around 2 lakh pages. He was only next to Gandhiji in that regard.
B. Srinivasan, Managing Director, Vikatan Group, appealed to the Chief Minister to ensure transparency in procurement of books and periodicals by the State government libraries.
“I would like to make a request: libraries in Tamil Nadu purchase books from various publishers. This exercise should be concluded soon. There should be transparency in the manner in which State government runs libraries, procure books [and other publications] and the selection committee [that recommends titles] is formed. The small publications come out with excellent titles and they should also be supported by including their titles in the libraries,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the mistakes committed by the previous regime in purchasing books for libraries were being rectified and that a transparent online system would be implemented soon.
The event was attended by several senior Ministers, senior DMK office-bearers, Dinamalar’s Associate Editor Krishnamurthy, DMK and MNM cadre.
