Narendra Modi criticizes Indian media over interviews
Prime Minister says answers to questions are sometimes 'pre-decided', at a gathering to mark 21 years of popular TV show 'Aap ki Adalat'
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday criticized the media for interviews where questions are asked with the apparent aim of getting answers that are sometimes “pre-decided".
“In interviews, this is our experience. We have to reply at every roundabout and nook and corner. In most of the interviews, the person asking questions has already decided on the answers. He will not let you go unless you give him the answer he wants. Once you have given the answer they want, they lose interest in you," Modi said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a gathering to mark 21 years of the popular TV show Aap ki Adalat hosted by senior journalist Rajat Sharma on India TV. President Pranab Mukherjee was also present on the occasion.
Modi said that the show was one place where the “accused" is not led into answering something pre-decided. “It is not required to force people to answer the way you want," he said.
Modi said the TV show and Sharma stood out in a country with more than 800 television channels and 10,000 newspapers because of the anchor’s balance and proportion. The Prime Minister said that many interviews end with some bitterness but not those conducted by Sharma.
President Mukherjee also said that Indians have appointed Sharma as their “public prosecutor". “Please do not change your role," he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Smriti Irani were among those present. Former Union ministers and Congress party leaders Kamal Nath, Sushilkumar Shinde and Salman Khurshid were also there as well as celebrities including Bollywood actors Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.
A number of dignitaries, including those who had been interviewed on the show in the last 21 years, were present on the occasion. Sharma said that Aap Ki Adalat achieved huge success not because of his questions but due to the answers he got. Clippings of many of the old interviews were also shown.
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