Media, NGOs, judiciary misused to dish out divisive ideas: Rajnath Singh

Addressing the second convocation at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gandhinagar, Singh said the challenge also lies in looking at what is being done to “destroy the good systems in the country”.

Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel arrive for the convocation ceremony. (Express Photo)

5 min readLavadOct 18, 2022 07:09 AM IST First published on: Oct 18, 2022 at 01:27 AM IST

Observing that lines are blurring between internal and external security with advent of “hybrid wars” and newer technologies, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that independent media, social media, NGOs and the judiciary are becoming fertile grounds for misuse by elements to establish and propagate dangerous and divisive ideas “in the name of freedom of expression”.

Addressing the second convocation at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gandhinagar, Singh said the challenge also lies in looking at what is being done to “destroy the good systems in the country”.

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Singh said: “Kahin social media swatantra hai toh uss par vyavasthit upaprachar kaise kiya jaye. Social media ka swatantra hona koi buri baat nahi hai — swatantra honi chahiye, media bhi swatantra honi chahiye — lekin media swatantra hai, iska durupyog kaise hota hai; kaise media ke andar abhivyakt ki swatantra ke naam par khatarnaak aur vibhajankari baaton ka sthapit aur usse pracharit karne ki koshish ki jaati hai. Yadi NGOs ki swatantrata hai, toh kaise inn NGOs ka aisa prayog kiya jaaye taaki desh ki poori system hi yeh paralyse kar de. Yadi judiciary swatantra hai toh kanooni dhang aur kanooni pechon ke dwaara kaise vikaas ke kaaryo ko roka jaaye, yeh koshish hoti hai… wadi dynamic democracy hai hamare desh ki, toh kaise political parties ke andar ghuspet karke uski ekta aur suraksha dono par bagair dikhe huye prahaar kiya jaaye. (An independent social media can be used to carry out systematic propaganda. Social media being independent is not thing — in fact it should be independent, media should be independent — but when the media is independent, efforts are made to misuse it in the name of freedom of expression to establish and propagate dangerous and divisive ideas. If NGOs are independent, then efforts are made to use them in a way that the entire system is paralysed. If the judiciary is independent, then legal norms and loopholes are used to stop development works. The country’s unity and security in our dynamic democracy is attempted to be attacked by infiltrating political parties.)”

Citing the violence at Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra in 2018 as an example, Singh said, “Hybrid war almost erases the line between internal and external security. It is not the age of a definite proclamation of war today but rather that of continuous warfare — be it cyberattacks on banking, transport or security systems, or attempts to create hatred and extremist views in society through social media…the Bhima Koregaon movement that spread across the country…. Later it emerged that 50 per cent of the tweets originated from Pakistan.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the second convocation of the Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar. (Express photo)

Singh also cautioned students that without achieving spiritual and ethical wisdom along with intellectual wisdom, one may be led on wrong paths.

“We need to take our society towards ethics and spirituality… our government has taken a lot of steps and our Prime Minister has an important role in that… Adhyatmic gyan is about elevation of the mind, not simply praying at temple or making ibadat at masjid or praying at a church… What you do when you get opportunities to work in different areas does not depend on your buddhi (intellect) but it depends on your mann (mind/soul)…,” he said.

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Citing the example of men acquiring pilot training in the world’s most developed nation — the United States — to fly planes into the World Trade Centre, Singh said, “India, too, has many such instances where youths were involved in terrorism. They were not illiterate; they were graduates… despite studying a lot and being a trained pilot, someone can be a Khalid Sheikh or Mohammed Atta (masterminds of 9/11). One can be a doctor and yet be an Afzal Guru; one can be a chartered accountant and yet be a Yakub Memon; someone can be wealthy and yet be an Osama Bin Laden… Thus, it’s not important how intellectual you are…you should be bound by some values.”

Pointing out security threats is becoming difficult with each passing day, he said, “Take terrrorism… usually it comes under internal security but we get to know that training, funding and arms support to such (terrorist) organisations are coming from abroad…. Similarly we see insurgency or extremism… While the technical definitions are different, when and where these overlap and where their objectives become one, it becomes difficult to determine.”

Citing cyber war and information war as examples of security threats, the Defence Minister said, “Information warfare through WhatsApp and Facebook is brou-ght into the society through fake news and hate content… wrong facts are spread, which propagates hate… Anti-social elements have become so smart and advanced that sometimes even police agencies fail, are misled…”

Sohini Ghosh

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Prev... Read More

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