'Indian News Channels are Throttling Democracy at the Speed of Light': Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Ravish Kumar

Guwahati, August 3, 2019:

The famous English novelist George Orwell once famously said: "In times of deceit, speaking the truth becomes a revolutionary act." This is perhaps the mantra that NDTV's Ravish Kumar lives by, as the nature of the outspoken scribe's journalistic work has often found him directly in the crosshairs of the current administration. But that has hardly deterred the 'Prime Time' journalist.

After being awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award (often called the 'Nobel Prize' of Asia) for "harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless", the star journalist addressed his viewers through his channel, NDTV.

Condemning the state of journalism in the country, Kumar said that the media is not standing for the weak and downtrodden and compared the syntax of current tv journalists with Orwellian novels. "India's television channels are throttling the Indian democracy", he rued.

The foundation states that Ravish's programme reports on the "under-reported problems of ordinary people."This is not just my victory, there are a lot of people working behind the scenes, who make this happen", he said, paying tribute to the unsung heroes of the world of journalism.

Ravish Kumar lamented that the field of journalism has come under constant rebukes, and added thanked his viewers for keeping him motivated and said that it is a "humbling experience" for him.

Talking about his style of reporting, he said that his journalism is meant for the people of the country and said that he reports for his 'viewers'.

"I am not anti-Modi, Modi is anti-Ravish", he said, responding to questions about his tenuous relationship with the current administration. "I will never stand with bigotry, communalism, xenophobia, and jingoism, and you cannot protect these under the guise of 'nationalism'", Kumar said, and added that he is being criticized because he has always asked uncomfortable questions to the ruling administration.

"I am indirectly working for the Government, but criticizing the rotten apples of the party so that they can be gotten rid of", he smirked.

It may be mentioned that Ravish Kumar has been twice conferred with Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for the Best Journalist of the Year and became the fifth Indian journalist to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

He is also the author of the book "The Free Voice - On Democracy, Culture and The Nation".

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