<span style="color: #222222;">Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said that as the country is heading towards self-reliance, the media needs to cooperate in this direction. Speaking at the event on the completion of 75 years of Panchjanya, an Indian weekly magazine published by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mr Singh said, Media should not criticise for the sake of criticism. He added that wherever there is a question of national interest, the media should stand firm with the nation.<br />''<br />''Remembering the contribution of Deendayal Upadhyaya and Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the field of Journalism, Mr Singh said both of them together made an effort to create an awakened society, which was much needed immediately after the Independence.<br />''<br />''Criticising the then Congress government, Mr Singh said that the repeated crackdown on 'Panchjanya' was not only an attack on nationalist journalism but also a complete violation of freedom of expression.<br />''<br />''He said that when the Indian Constitution was implemented, the freedom of expression of every Indian citizen was ensured by our constitution makers in Article 19. But to crush the nationalist ideology, soon the then rulers amended the Indian Constitution and put restrictions on it.<br />''<br />''Speaking at the event, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur said, there are some international newspapers which are running agenda against India.<br />''<br />''He added that at the time of Corona, they said that there would be lakhs of deaths in the country, but India gave the first vaccine to the whole world to fight against Corona with the least mortality rate.<br />''<br />''Mr Thakur further mentioned that the Government has taken action against such media outlets which are trying to defame India, whether they are running from inside or from outside the country.</span><br />