Jammu, October 18: The times are changing and changing fast and with it are changing the age old political and legal myths which used to be taboo till date for media, people and the government but now everything is being discussed with no holds bar.
As one of our colleagues was discussing how journalism has changed from hinting at a particular person or community while reporting an incident to directly taking names of the person or the community involved in any incident.
Take for instance the beef ban in Indian and Jammu and Kashmir, it has changed the vocabulary of the journalists who used to shy away from using words like beef, cow slaughter and Hindu, Muslim or Sikh directly but now every journalist or TV anchor is not only using it freely but also depicting huge photographs, videos and what not least caring for the so called sensibilities of the people particularly at a time when Navratras’ are going on.
There was a time when children were asked not to speak words like eggs, mutton or anything non-vegetarian thing during holy festivals of Hindus but now they are fed these things through daily newspapers and TV channels in a way as if people have forgotten the culture and tradition to maintain religious sanctity of the Navratras.
One wonders whether same things will be tolerated when some other festivals are in progress and whether TV anchors, politicians and journalists would use same terminology without caring for the religious sentiments of the people.
The situation has reached to a position where the whole vocabulary of the journalism is changing and time will only tell whether this is for good or bad for the profession and the society.
The second incident that comes to mind is the criticism of courts. While it used to be a strong no no for journalists to comment on court judgments with politicians also refraining from commenting on the cases that were sub-judice but again the times seem to have changed with journalists and TV anchors openly challenging the court verdicts and politicians not only criticizing but also condemning judgments some times.
The situation that is developing slowly will takes us to a point where the executive and judiciary might have an open confrontation with media filling the gap to take it own stand.
The journalists feel that it was their prerogative to comment on judges and judgments while parliamentarians feel that judiciary was exceeding it s brief and constituency and the judgment of National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) seems to be proving the last nail in the coffin.
The politicians believe that judicial activism is increasing by the day while judiciary believes that executive is not doing its work properly and people are suffering for no fault of theirs.
In this whole quagmire the common man is also confused as sometimes he feels that judicial activism was good for his welfare but when it pinches him he sides with the politicians.
The crux is that with changing times the established laws are also taking a beating and some written and unwritten laws are being violated with impunity in India. It is time every section of the society be it judiciary, executive or media confines itself within the walls of its constituency and follows the rule of the land so that the democracy flourishes and becomes vibrant with the changing times and the requirements of modern society.