It is the great strength of a democracy, and the democratic process, that it eschews extremes. It forces every extremist political formation to moderate itself and to move to the centre to be able to move to the center-stage. The political development of India stands testimony to this great truth. Political movements that were launched in pursuit of extreme and sectarian causes, some with even anti-national objectives, have over time moderated themselves. They chose to join the national mainstream. They chose to move to the political centre, away from the periphery of politics.

Who could have imagined 50 years ago that a political party in Tamil Nadu created to champion secessionism would one day move to the very heart of our national politics? Who could have imagined 50 years ago that a Communist leader, belonging to a party that pledged itself to overthrow “bourgeois democracy” and establish the “dictatorship of the proletariat”, would so proudly and with such great dignity occupy the august chair of the Speaker of our Lok Sabha? Democracy and the electoral process have a logic of their own. They make it possible for those who are disaffected to feel that they belong. In this process of moderation and consensus building, the media must play a constructive role.

Our nation is standing at the threshold of a new era. As I have said so often, the world wants India to do well. There are no external constraints on our development. For us to realise the full potential of our people, we must overcome the hurdles at home and the roadblocks in our mind. I believe it was Karl Marx who once said, “When an idea captures the minds of men, it becomes a material force.” You are in the business of capturing the minds of people, of shaping ideas and thereby transforming society. I hope these awards will encourage more of our journalists to pursue the journalism of change.

... contd.