Didi’s class act: ‘Media teaches lies, students must not read, watch them’

Madhuparna Das, ENS, | Kolkata | September 6, 2014: Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the students nationwide on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a class of her own at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Friday afternoon, imparting a few lessons to thousands of students who had assembled.

And the crux of her message to the schoolchildren of various classes  was: “Beware of the media. It is out to malign and destroy our government and the society.”

In an address that lasted over an hour, the media repeatedly figured in the Chief Minister’s line of attack.

“It contributes nothing to society and plays only a destructive role by spreading lies. West Bengal is going through a dark phase (as) a section of the media is running a smear campaign against it. Earlier, the media was considered as the mirror of society but, sadly, it is not performing its duty now. It has crossed all limits,” she said.

Mamata continued: “The media does not even wait to see whether the accused are real culprits or not. (On the other hand) we do not engage in malicious propaganda and character assassination. We lead our lives with head held high,” she said, in what appeared to be a reference to recent reports on the Saradha scam in which several of her party leaders are either being interrogated or are under scrutiny.

Without taking Saradha’s name, Mamata said if out of 100 mangoes in a basket, one is found rotten, then it does not mean the rest of them are rotten, too. “Only the rotten one has to be discarded.”

If PM Modi had students in the audience, Mamata’s was attended by teachers with several of them being felicitated and at least 40 schools returning home with awards for best performance.

Pointing at the gallery where students were seated, the CM said, “I wish you all become successful engineers, doctors and teachers”, advising them against “reading and watching lies” (in newspapers and channels).

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