Whether you approve or strenuously disagree, we’ve had plentiful coverage of last month’s student protest. We have a clear idea of what happened and how the protesters – as well as the police – were treated. We’ve been given profiles of the protesters and interviews with several of them. We’ve heard discussions of their future plans and assessments of their style, strategy and success. These aspects may not have been objectively covered or even portrayed with balance but they were on offer in the media.What we didn’t get is what we, the people – that is, the Indian nation – made of what happened. How do the people view the protesters? Their treatment? The response of the politicians? The silence of the top leadership? And, of course, the eventual outcome? In other words, we did not get surveys and polls that attempted to really find out how the Indian people responded to the events, statements, behaviour and developments of last month.No doubt there were a couple of polls asking generic questions, such as ‘what is the most important electoral issue today?’ or ‘who will you vote for?’. But after July’s dramatic developments, these were meaningless – if not irrelevant – questions. We needed to ask specific and pointed questions. No one did.Here are few examples of what I wanted to learn but couldn’t find anywhere.First, the general questions that should’ve been asked: What’s your opinion of the protest at Jantar Mantar? Was the attempted march to the parliament justified? Did the police respond professionally or viciously? Was the use of tear gas and lathis justified against students? Do you approve of the Instagram reels and social media messages mocking top politicians that were posted by the protesting students? Should ministers have tried to talk to the protesters long before they did?There are plenty more such questions – I’m only offering a few suggestions.Second, the specific issues we needed to learn about: How do you view Sonam Wangchuk and his three-week fast? Can the use of pellet guns in Delhi and AK-47s in Bihar against students be justified? How responsibly and effectively did the government respond to the protests? Do you believe the silence from the home minister was understandable or inexplicable? Was the prime minister’s use of Instagram effective? Was he right to say he’d forgiven those who abused him or was that insensitive and arrogant? Again, there are many more issues that could have been raised. I’m only mentioning the most obvious.In any other credible democracy, the media would have rushed to commission such polls. First through telephone and then metropolis-based surveys. They’re the easiest and quickest to do. Then, within a week or 10 days, would have followed more extensive and meticulously grounded opinion polls. By now, three or more weeks after the protests have ended, we should have had a reliable and fairly comprehensive idea of how the country viewed the momentous developments of last month. Alas, we don’t.As a democracy we need to know. Instead, we’re ignorant. I cannot believe our media didn’t think of it or considered such polls unnecessary and irrelevant. No, I can vouch that my fraternity would have cried out for them. Every journalistic instinct would have screamed for them. So what happened? I can guess but I’m confident I’m right.Someone somewhere in authority – an editor, or perhaps, a proprietor – would have said no. They would have sensed the findings would embarrass the government and sought to avoid doing so. Their judgement would have tilted in favour of protecting the amour propre of our rulers at the cost of denying their readership or viewership information and an assessment that was truly needed. And this applies equally to our printed publications, as it does to our television channels.This is a truly sad – no, tragic – conclusion to come to. It suggests we can’t rely on our media to rise to the challenge of keeping the people of India fully informed. And that raises its own questions. Why, then, do we have the media? And can it really claim to be free and fearless? However, that’s not all. The outcome is also a diminution of the democracy we’re so proud of. The world’s largest hasn’t got the courage or the strength of character to try and find out what the country thinks about a development that is the most important for decades.Let me end by asking, are we scared to discover the truth many already feel in their hearts, while several would be shocked to find out? Is that why the media did not tell us? That’s a question each of us must answer individually. But let me make another point. The aim of the media is to awaken and inform, not leave us peacefully slumbering. Ultimately, if we accept this silence, it reveals something about us. Why do we accept – and not protest against – this state of affairs?This is a question all of us need to answer. A Sunday is a good day to try.