Kochi: Nationalism is a good word and I take pride in being one, union minister of state for information and broadcasting and sports and youth affairs Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has said.
Inaugurating the Manorama News Conclave 2018 on Freedom in Kochi on Friday, he said freedom of speech and expression is an 'unimpeachable' feature of the Constitution. Taking a sweeping dig at 'subversive' and 'terrorist' elements trying to wage shadow wars on the country, he said the people of the country should be ready to counter the misinformation campaigns that fuel aggression, even against the armed forces.
The country was at a juncture where freedom was being fiercely protected as a national policy. Citing cases in point, he said Jawaharlal Nehru amended the Constitution to curb the right to free speech in the years immediately after Independence and Rajiv Gandhi amended the posts and telegraphs Act to read 'private letters'. He said the citizens should contemplate how 'more free' the country was in relation to 'those ages'.
The media was most active now and the government welcomed it. The need of the hour was to create a composite structure for a 'future uniformity' and continued sovereignty, Colonel Rathore said.
In a covered jibe at India's 'western neighbor,' he said wars were being continuously waged. But the danger was in the fact that the war was shifting to non-conventional platforms like indoctrination. This called upon every citizen to up his ante and be vigilant to new threats.
Replying to a question on a cabinet colleague garlanding lynching case accused, he said the government was against all forms of violence, be it for an ideology or not. He said the government would want to assure the citizens of this principle of peace.
But at the same time every accused has the right to prove his innocence and also shouldn't be considered guilty until the charge is proved.
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