The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has advised the Foreign Correspondents to not to depend on what appears in our hyper critical English media and form opinions. He was addressing the gathering at the 60th anniversary of The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia.
The Vice President said that Foreign Correspondents must be well acquainted with that particular country’s culture, history, ethos, traditions and the ways of living of its people, before covering developments or any events in a country. He further said that the entire country cannot be described as intolerant on the basis of some stray incidents of communal violence. If a handful of religious fundamentalists indulge in violence, the entire country cannot be described as intolerant and that majoritarianism is being imposed, he added.
The Vice President said that understanding a flourishing and vibrant parliamentary democracy like India, with free press and complete religious freedom to its people is a bit challenging for outsiders. He has asked external media agencies working in India to understand India by travelling in the region and meeting people. One should not depend on what appears in our hyper critical English media and form opinions, he added.
