Congress' history replete with incidents of violation of freedom: Rajnath Singh

He said this while addressing the event of the completion of 75 years of 'Panchjanya' magazine.

"Today again there is a debate in the country regarding the freedom of expression. Those who allege the violation of media freedom forget that whether it is Atalji's or Modiji's government, they have never attacked any media house neither barred nor banned," said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"While the Congress government even amended the constitution. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others," he added.

While stating that Congress had no right to get into the freedom debate, the defence minister said," The entire history of the Congress party is replete with incidents of violation of all kinds of freedoms."

"During the freedom struggle, only two media houses worked for the nation. One was 'Crossroads' which was inspired by leftist thought and originated from Madras. The second was the magazine 'Organiser'. Both these magazines exasperated the Congress so much that they were banned," said Rajnath Singh.

Further, the defence minister stated that everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. But the Congress was so eager to stifle any kind of criticism that it changed the constitution itself.

"Our constitution makers also ensured this through Article 19. Then what happened in 1951, that is, only after one year, there was a need to amend the constitution which was considered as the 'best constitution in the world'."

Recalling the freedom struggle and the emergency, Rajnath said, "Journalism is the most objective force of intelligent society in its eternal values. Sometimes it is used to fight against the oppressive power of the British. Sometimes he fought against the autocracy and dictatorship of the Emergency. So sometimes it echoes the voice of stopping the misuse of the power of power."

While addressing the event of the completion of 75 years of the national weekly, Panchjanya, Rajnath Singh also said that the culmination of 75 years of 'Panchjanya' is a significant event in the Indian journalism world. (ANI)