Politicians never happy with honest journalism... : The Tribune India

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Politicians never happy with honest journalism...

As Punjab inches towards an Assembly election early next year, political leaders, parties and groups are entering into a new relationship with the media. They are rightly anxious to have their message sent across to the voters. And, it is only natural that they should be getting itchy, being uptight, making all sorts of demands — some reasonable, but mostly unreasonable — on the reporters and newspapers.

Politicians never happy with honest journalism...

Illustration: Sandeep Joshi



Harish Khare

AS Punjab inches towards an Assembly election early next year, political leaders, parties and groups are entering into a new relationship with the media. They are rightly anxious to have their message sent across to the voters. And, it is only natural that they should be getting itchy, being uptight, making all sorts of demands — some reasonable, but mostly unreasonable — on the reporters and newspapers.

We at The Tribune find ourselves in a rather happy situation. Almost all seem to be equally unhappy with us.

The Akali Dal bosses are very annoyed with us because of our critical comments and reportage of their party and the government. So much so, these bosses, who think that the Government of Punjab is a private estate, have exercised the only ‘power’ they have — a firman has been issued to discontinue advertisements for The Tribune. The Badals, to be fair to them, are not the first to think they can browbeat The Tribune. Many other ‘powerful’ chief ministers have tried this trick and lived long thereafter to regret it. 

Then we have the Congress party bosses who are inclined to blame the media for their electoral campaign not taking off. They are not happy that internal bickering in the party gets reported. Some of them are annoyed because of what we say about the Aam Adami Party. This seems to me a bit unfair. This is, as they say in Hindi, a zabardasti ka saauda. Even before they have been voted to power, they feel they are entitled to feel irked at what we say and report about others. 

And then, there is the AAP crowd and its numerous power centres. The thekedars get annoyed because each and every word they utter does not get reported. Happily, the BJP has outsourced its fortunes and reputation to its coalition partners. We rarely hear from them. 

The Tribune coverage and comments are invariably driven by professional journalistic considerations. It is just as good a time as any to reassure our readers that our reportage of the forthcoming elections would continue to be critical, competent, comprehensive, fair, balanced — irrespective of the advertisements and in spite of the expressions of annoyance. That is our self-defined karma. 

After all, the new and old political bosses may not be aware that The Tribune’s greatest strength is its readers and their respect and confidence. A politician’s approval or disapproval has no relevance.

ON Friday, the Haryana Assembly witnessed an extraordinary departure from the secular norms of our constitutional arrangement. A religious guru — a Jain monk who has some sort of television show of his own — was invited to address the Assembly. 

The monk sat on a platform higher than that of the Governor (who chose to put in an appearance), the Chief Minister and the Speaker. He was “stark naked”, as one agitated bureaucrat reported to me. According to newspaper reports, the Jain monk was in a mood to berate the parliamentarians, shouting political formulations, making unseemly sociological observations, chastising one and all. It is difficult to understand how anyone would be feeling wiser or spiritually nobler after this harangue.

More importantly, one of the most cherished principles of our constitutional order is deemed to be the internal autonomy of the legislature. No one — not even the judiciary — is allowed to interfere ordinarily in the working of a legislature. The favourite phrase used is ‘sadan ki garima’ (dignity, aura of the legislature).  

There was nothing spiritual or uplifting about the Friday experiment. It was blatant use of religiosity for political purposes. And, it now transpires that the ‘pravachan’ would not even be part of the Haryana Assembly proceedings. 

Is there no one in the whole of Haryana or beyond to tell the Chief Minister that this guru business was not the healthiest of his initiatives? A rather unhappy precedent has been set. The door has been opened for the others. And, where will it stop? Next, there will be pressure on the Chief Minister to invite this guru or that baba for a sermon. And, we do know how many of these very gurus are using the faith and respect of their followers in their spiritual prowess to make a fast buck.

That same evening, television anchors were berating the Muslim clergy for dissenting from the Bombay High Court ruling that has allowed women to enter the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali shrine. These angry anchors demanded to know whether India was a land to be governed by the Constitution of India or by the shariat.

The same question can be asked of the powers-that-be in Haryana.

AND suddenly there is all this excitement about Balochistan. Balochistan? I am not sure very many people can name one or two big towns in Balochistan. In our popular discourse about Pakistan, we are somewhat familiar with names like Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. And, of course, Peshawar. Often, on the menus of eating joints we find a “Peshawari naan”.  Once in a while, in our five-star hotels, we come across a restaurant named ‘Baloch’. That is about all. 

No one talks of Quetta. Not even in Bollywood films. Our desi James Bonds are never sent to perform their magical tricks in Quetta. 

My own childhood recollection is of the talk of the Quetta earthquake. I had this uncle who used to spin this yarn about his experience of the Quetta earthquake (of 1935). Apparently, he had gone from Delhi to Quetta to appear in some kind of civil service examination. Of course, he did not make it because of the earthquake, he would recall. A day before the test, there was a massive quake in Quetta. On my nine-year-old impressionable mind is imprinted this nugget of his tall tale: how he had witnessed a massive bull getting flipped over many times as the tremors were felt.

Many, many years later, I was to discover that this was all a cock-and-bull story my uncle had been telling all those years. A few years ago, I came across a book, Viceroy’s Agent by Charles Chenevix Trench, a gripping account of the Indian Political Service, one of the major instruments of control and administration in the British Raj in the princely India. In the chapter on ‘Baluchistan’, I was to learn that the earthquake had in fact taken place on the night of May 31, 1935. But there was no way my uncle could have been out in the market, watching the bull flip over many a time.   

Are we getting sucked into another ‘cock-and-bull’ kind of a Balochistan fantasy? 

I am tempted to cite a recent book on the American foreign policy: Alter Egos by Mark Landler. It is a very competent and racy narrative about President Obama, and his partnership with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as they reworked the American foreign and strategic policies. Mark Landler describes a scene. President Obama ambles down to the press section of the Air Force One and engages the reporters in a tense conversation over their failure to appreciate his foreign policy, and, then, tersely, sums up his working philosophy: “Do not do stupid shit.”

There is a view of history. According to it, statesmen are ordinary political leaders who avoid making silly and stupid mistakes.

This is very much relevant in the sudden change in our stance on Balochistan. It is the most opaque and most mysterious shift. No discussion, no debate. Instead, the professional foreign policy experts are busy competing with one another to suggest what a bold and adventurous move we have made.

I am sure there are people in the South Block who have read Alter Egos. I am not sure if someone has invoked the “do not do stupid shit.”  But someone should tell the Prime Minister of President Obama’s epigram. After all “Barack” is his best friend.

After these rather serious-sounding thoughts, it is time for a hot cup of coffee. Do join me. 

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