ON the solemn occasion of the 78th anniversary of the martyrdom of M.K. Gandhi, it is of seminal importance to recall his role as an outstanding communicator and his prescient and yet cautionary statement that if a political party with a mandate to rule exercises a monopoly over organs of information and communication, it would pave the way for dictatorship.
In fact, it is illuminating and instructive to note that he said so when the Constitution was being drafted by the Constituent Assembly and dire predictions were being made about the strong possibility of India failing to safeguard her newly acquired independence and bring to fruition its vision to set up a democratic form of government based on adult franchise.
It was during those trying times when Partition-related communal carnage was engulfing several parts of the country, many Hindus and Muslims were being killed and their places of worship desecrated due to the spread of hate on account of faith that Gandhi received a complaint that Indian National Congress was using radio for broadcasting information and news about itself and its activities.
