Is water responsible for death or the incapacity to swim across the river is what is leading to deathIJ This is how one of the young debaters reasoned while advocating that media is not creating intolerance but it is the activities of the people which the media is covering is what is leading to the creation of atmosphere of intolerance in the country during an inter-house competition held on Friday morning in the Delhi Public School auditorium. The theme of debate was whether the media is unleashing an atmosphere of intolerance around us.
Shreya Karnwal of class 7 in her three- minute speech averred that while the media was showing the happenings in their true colour the violence erupting off and on is on account of the bigoted mindset of certain people, inclined to view things through the prism of communalism. Giving instance of the long-festering Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid tangle, the little debater said to the applause from those gathered that media showed the historical facts based on research by historians while some people chose to stick to their communalist guns, resulting in the virtual perpetuation of the tangle. “Is it the media’s flaw or the flaw inherent in the mindset of a section of the peopleIJ” she asked.
However, Saumyasmita Sahu of the same class cited instances of the growing intolerance plaguing Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Hindu families leaving Kirana under distress to bring home the point that at times media’s repeated telecasts are leading to tension in the country, deepening communal fissures.
Vidhi Talwar exhorted the Indian media to present things in a more positive way while commenting that it is the responsibility of the government to make sure that unfiltered news does not wreck the inter-communal amity.
First prize was bagged by Tanish Bajaj while the second prize by two students Swamprabha Dixit and Navya Bakshi and the third prize by Duhita Dass.