Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated that some journalists were acting as catspaws of their corporate owners.
Speaking at a conclave organised by the Kerala Media Academy, Mr. Vijayan said that certain journalists were being cowed into silence by the Central government-backed corporate houses, which have acquired a broad swathe of media outlets across the country.
“Few others followed the political agenda set by their employers,” he added.
Mr. Vijayan said the corporate-controlled media was pursuing an aggressive news agenda that sought to divide the country along religious lines to obfuscate the livelihood issues plaguing the people under the neo-liberal regime at the Centre. “We are seeing what is happening in Republic TV,” he added.
Mr. Vijayan said the independent media faced existential challenges under the current disposition at the Centre. Critics of the government are labelled traitors and are either jailed or killed.
Mr. Vijayan spotlighted the presence of the Palestinian Ambassador to India Abdullah Abu Shawesh at the event.
“Palestine has a special place in the hearts of Keralites. Palestinians are fighting for their very existence as a people, and they are folk heroes in Kerala. Generations of Keralites have grown up hearing the storied and iconic struggle of Palestinians for nationhood and the right of self-determination,” he said.
“Kerala’s noted writer M. Leelavathy said the excruciating plight of Gazans under Israeli occupation and genocide had distressed her so much that she could not bring herself to eat without the faces of starving families, especially children, coming to her mind,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan noted that Israel’s bombardment and military assaults on Gaza had claimed 65,000 lives, including those of women, children, journalists, aid workers and doctors, since the invasion commenced in October last. “Ms. Leelavathy’s agony is emblematic of Kerala’s anguish for the beleaguered people of Palestine,” he said.
Published – September 30, 2025 10:25 pm IST
