Challenges of Questioning Government Accountability

When I was not in that chair,

I am telling you this. Rest assured that asking questions to the government

is not easy. Questioning those in power is not easy.

Actually, this is not that era

when a reporter would stand in front of Dr. Manmohan Singh with their mic ID,

ask questions about scams, and Dr. Manmohan Singh would say that he has nothing to hide.

This is not that era

when Jaswant Singh,

and Yashwant Sinha, just because their names cropped up,

would resign from Parliament

and would not cross the threshold of Parliament until they won the next election,

this is what Lal Krishna Advani did.

The party of conduct, character, and face, the 'party with a difference'—that era is gone.

This is not that era when, on Doordarshan's 'Janvani' program,

people would ask questions, and just by asking questions, the ministers'

chairs would shake or they would lose their positions. That era is gone.

So, asking questions to the government, to those in power, is not very easy.

I am telling you this with great conviction, with great experience. This is actually the era of trolls.

If you ask questions, then rowdy, disruptive,

and frenzied people will be sent to the studio.

Then they will try their trolling on you on social media.

This is that era.

So, asking questions is not easy.

And this, this institutional journalism,

these very large institutions that have opened up,

their first undeclared rule is actually this,

that they will not let a journalist remain a journalist.

They will not let a journalist remain a journalist. You will be able to do everything, you will have millions of followers,

you will become very, very famous, you will become very well-known,

but you will not remain a journalist.