Writing A Nation (An Anthology of Indian Journalism)

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Item Code: IDK054
Author: Nirmala Lakshman
Publisher: Rupa Publication Pvt. Ltd.
Edition: 2007
ISBN: 9788129112538
Pages: 718
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 9.3" X 6.2"
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Shipped to 153 countries
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Book Description
About the Book

The press in India has always been at the forefront of national life. Liberal notions of the power of the press came from those who were involved in the country's freedom movement and included a belief in journalism's capacity to mould public opinion and safeguard the rights of its citizens. In the years that followed, the press faced numerous challenges including attempts to curb the freedom of expression. This book shows that the tradition of independent journalism is alive and well in India in the sixth decade after independence, and indeed much of what has appeared in India newspapers has shaped and affected the course of Indian democracy.

This anthology looks at some themes that defined national discourse from around the time of Independence to the present day as expressed through journalism in the English press. It showcases a wide range of articles that have expanded the terms of debate, expressed criticism and dissent, and enriched the Indian press. In doing so, they have strengthened the very fabric of Indian Express, The Hindustan Times and The Times of India of this nation, offering incisive analyses and clarity on issues that critically impacted on the lives of its people.

The writers include celebrated journalists, politicians, academics, activists, film makers and many others whose considered views have drawn attention to issues that have affected the nation from the immediate aftermath of Independence to the present era of globalization and market dominance. The richness of insight and depth of perception offered in this collection makes this anthology invaluable not only to students of journalism but also to anyone who seeks to understand India.

About the Author

Nirmala Lakshman is joint editor of The Hindu, one of India's leading English newspapers. She is a seasoned commentator on social and development issues and regularly writes editorials and articles on these subjects for the newspaper. She also has a keen interest in culture and the arts; her interviews of Edward Said and Salman Rushdie have been reproduced in special anthologies of those writers works.

In various senior roles at the Hindu for more than two and a half decades, Nirmala has edited feature section of the newspaper including the Sunday Magazine and the Literary Review. She also introduced the popular children's supplement Young World to attract younger readers to the newspaper also initiating the Newspaper in education programme. In the 1990s she formulated and edited Folio, a niche publication as part of the Sunday Magazine that was themed around society and the arts.

Nirmala has an MA degree from the United States and a PhD in postmodern literature. She was a Press Fellow at Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, UK, and has also been a Fellow of the 21st century Trust in the UK. She is the chairperson of the Media Fellowship Committee of the National Foundation of India, and is also currently on the Board of Trustees.

Her other interests are poetry, western classical music and Carnatic music. She is the great-granddaughter of Kasturi Ranga lyengar, one of the stalwarts of Indian journalism during the freedom struggle, and the granddaughter of Kasturi Srinivasan, the illustrious former editor of The Hindu. She has an abiding interest in the role of media in a democracy.

She lives in Chennai, travels widely and is presently working on a novel.

Introduction

Among the most cherished freedoms inherent in modern societies is that of a free press. Contemporary beliefs about the role of the media as well s the practice of journalism have been shaped by the values of humanism and the age of European enlightenment in the eighteenth century. Liberal notions of the power of the press were also imbibed in India by those who were involved in the struggle for freedom. This included a belief in journalism's capacity to mould public opinion, and faith in its ability to shape the destinies of nations and safeguard the rights and civil liberties of its citizens. Although Indian journalism's early emphasis was on social reform, it soon took up the agenda of political independence. Fostered by the journalism of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political awakening also set the parameters for a tradition of independent journalism that took firm root in the national psyche. The press in India has therefore always been at the forefront of national life. Although there has been a considerable erosion of values over the decades since Independence, the original ideals continues to inspire resistance to authoritarianism and censorship and sustain the battles for freedom of conscience, speech and liberty in Indian society.

This anthology attempts to trace, through a collection of articles drawn from mainstream English language newspapers and newsmagazines, some of the discourses that define Indian democracy. It is by no means a comprehensive compilation, but is only representative of certain themes that have been inextricably bound with democratic discourse. It showcases a range of articles from journalists, politicians, activists, economists, academics, writers, filmmakers and others, who have sought to expand the terms of debate, express dissent and enrich the institution that is the Indian press. Beyond being mere reactions to events, these articles are considered responses to a host of issue; in some cases they are investigations that reveal the corruption that comes with power, in others they speak up for those whose voices are never heard, some unearth hidden truths and shake the citadels of power and many remind us why we are journalists in the first place.

Mirroring the progress of the Indian nation state, Indian journalism reflects the multi-layered strands that constitute its heterogeneity. Journalism's association with the nationalist political struggle as well as its advocacy of social reform and emancipation in the years before Independence went into the creation of some of its core strengths. These included independent functioning, resistance to State oppression and censorship, a cardinal commitment to free speech and expression, as well as its role as a protector of civil liberties. The English language press's commendable role during the 2002 carnage of minorities in Gujarat is a case in point. However, there were periods, as some articles in this anthology show, when the press compromised and failed in its duty to uphold the right to free expression, particularly during the Emergency, one of independent India's darkest hours. How the press dealt with state imposed censorship and other attempts to infringe Article 19 of the Constitution (which guarantees the right to free speech and expression) is an important aspect of the history of journalism in India. Equally important is the judiciary's role in both strengthening media freedom and in some cases (as in the use of the laws of contempt and defamation) imposing restrictions on it. Vice versa, the media's own contributions to augmenting the independence of various institutions including the judiciary enhanced the civil liberties of individual and groups and helped to fortify democracy.

CONTENTS
Introductionxv
Acknowledgementsxxxix
CONSTRUCTING A DEMOCRACY
The Need for Checks and Balances
-B.R. Ambedkar
7
A Blessing Code-Named Famine
-B.G. Verghese
13
The Road to Tyranny
-Kuldip Nayar
22
Emergency & The Constitution
-A.G. Noorani
26
A Unique Experience
-Ajit Bhattacharjea
31
Of Politicians And Sons
-Romesh Thapar
35
A Fundamental Issue-Shah Bano Case
-Tavleen Singh
41
Handling Terrorism
-K. Subrahmanyam
46
Social Discrimination Has to be Corrected
-S. Guhan
51
Lessons of Bombay's Riots
-Darryl D' Monte
57
Making Chappatis and politics
-Kalpana Sharma
61
What 50 years should mean
-Sunderlal Bahuguna
66
A Dalit Goes to Vote
-P. Sainath
71
Living with Diversity
-Asghar Ali Engineer
76
Democratisation or Disempowerment?
-Smita Gupta
80
The Executive and The Judiciary
-By Andre Beteille
85
An Insidr's view of the Police from the Outstide
-R.K. Raghavan
89
Pluralism and Liberalism
-Andre Beteille
94
A Gandhian in Garhwal
-Ramachandra Guha
99
Politicisation of Criminals
-Rajindar Sachar
109
Signs of Change
-S. Viswanathan
113
Parched Earth and Publication
-M.S. Swaminathan
118
Strategy for better Governance
-N. Vittal
122
Lessons from Latur
-Ammu Joseph
126
Not Everybody Loves a Good Drought
-Aruna Roy and Reetika Khera
132
Canjudicial Ascendancy be rolled back?
-N. Ravi
136
We need to remember forests are for forest Dwellers, not foresters
-Parth J. Shah
141
The Contours of a Communal Violence law
-Colin Gonsalves
145
India Empowered to me is
-Medha Patkar
150
India Empowered to me is
-Medha Patkar
150
India Empowered to me is
-Aruna Roy
155
Screening Intolerance
-Soli J. Sorabjee
159
NURTURING A FREE PRESS
Perspectives On The Press
-Ramesh Thapar
169
Restrictions on the Press freedom
-K.M. Munshi
175
Preserving The Freedom of the Press
-K. Subba Rao
179
The Emergency and The press- A Sad and sordid tale
-Inder Malhotra
188
An Indictment of the Defamation Bill
-N. Ravi
193
The Defamation Bill
-Madhu Limaye
199
Freedom of the press is the freedom of choice
-Nikhil Chakravarthy
204
Why Corporates Scams are in the news
-Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar
209
When the press fails in its duty
-Ajit Bhattacharjea
213
The Media and the Minorities
-Asghar Ali Engineer
217
Army Court Summons Journalist
-P. Sainath
222
The Perils of opening the print media
-Kuldip Nayar
227
Reading Between The Lines
-Rukun Advani
230
Sex, Bribes and Videotape
-Mukund Padmanabhan
235
Gujarat and Freedom of the press
-Kalpana Sharma
239
Under siege
-Sevanti Ninan
242
How Free is the Media?
-Sevanti Ninan
246
Gentlemen of the press
-Ramachandra Guha
250
The People's Daily
-Rita & Umesh Anand
254
A Talented Society needs a Talented media
Sagarika Ghose
261
A DIVIDED SOCIETY
A Question of Language
-C. Rajagopalachari
271
A Manifesto for Bihar
-Jayaprakash Narayan
275
Never Center of the Flesh Trade
-Ashwini Sarin
284
A Brutal Massacre
-Subir Roy
289
A voice from the 'Rest of India'
-Dharma Kumar
292
When the State Collapses
-Ramesh Thapar
296
Why Kashmiris are alienated
-Balraj Puri
301
Child Marriages are linked to poverty
-Usha Rai
306
The Bonfires of the Heart
-M.J. Akbar
310
The Enemy Within
-Achin Vanaik
317
Anatomy of a Riot
-Rajdeep Sardesai
323
A Political Hypocrisy
-Jayanthi Natarajan
327
Light at the end of the Tunnel?
-Ammu Joseph
332
Dangerous Descent: Flawed logic of nuclear tests
-Praful Bidwai
341
How we learned to love the bomb
-Anand Patwardhan
345
On the Run with the Ranvir sena
-C.P. Surendran
348
A Village Sings its Swansong
-Darshan Desai
353
This is the way they go to school
-P. Sainath
356
Kashmir: Manufacturing ethnic conflict
-Jean Dreze
361
Dishonoured by History
-Meena Radhakrishna
366
The great Divide
-Harsh Sethi
372
Flames of Hatred
-Dom Moraes
376
The Bomb in the Baby Carriage
-Renuka Narayanan
380
I salute you Geetaben, from the bottom of my heart
-Siddharth Varadarajan
383
The Survivors speak
-Mari Marcel Thekaekrara
387
Safety?… Doesn't fit this bill
-Indira Jaising
392
A Conspiracy of Silence
-Jyoti Punwani
397
Identity crisis
-Malini Parthasarathy
401
A deep rooted disease
-Anjali Mody
406
Desaffronising Education
-Kancha Ilaiah
411
Blood Thirsty Honour
-Githa Hariharan
414
The Case for Diversity
-Manoj Mitta
418
Our poor little Rich
-Shekhar Gupta
421
Three Weddings and a funeral
-P. Sainath
425
CORRUPTION AND CULPABILITY
Deep Roots
-J.B. Kripalani
435
Bhagalput Blindings: The Evidence Thus Far
Arun Shourie
441
Buying Girls from a Circuit House
Ashwini Sarin
451
World's Most powerful Supranational Government
N.Ram
457
The Continuing Tragedy of Bhopal
Sreekant Khandekar
462
Growing Violence in Bihar
Arvind N.Das
469
Shipbreaking shame trapped in Alang's Death Factory
Praful Bidwai
474
Know your Bofors
N. Ram
478
How we steal from ourselves
Shekhar Gupta
489
Starving the poor
Jean Dreze
493
Hunger Amid Plenty
Rajni Bakshi
501
Smoking Guns
Shankkar Aiyar
505
'Slapped' into submission
Sunita Narain
513
Guaranteeing Action For Employment
Aruna Roy & Nikhil Dey
517
Cheques and Balances why CBI needs to do more than just raids
Sucheta Dalal
522
Tackling Corruption
Sunanda K Datta Ray
526
INDIA AND THE WORLD
The Choice before us
Jawaharlal Nehru
535
A Crisis of Identity
B.G. Verghese
541
Making 'South Asia' a reality
Malini Parthasarathy
551
How good is Globalisation?
Achin Vanaik
556
Of Nukes And Men
Jean Dreze
561
Its an Enwrong
Mani Shankar Aiyar
566
Faith in Transition
Ranjit Hoskote
570
The Sweep of Globalisation
Neera Chandhoke
576
To Islamabad and the Frontier
Rajmohan Gandhi
580
In search of Gandhi and Godse
Harsh Mander
584
Circle of Mistrust
Kuldip Nayar
591
Plane to Pakistan
Rajeev Dhavan
595
Globalisation and Nationalism
Pratap Bhanu Mehta
600
A Blueprint for Kashmir
Kuldip Nayar
604
Chalo America
C. Raja Mohan
608
The Ides of August
Sunil Khilnani
612
A WEALTH OF SPIRIT
The Greatness of Bharati
K. Swaminathan
625
A First Viewing of Pather Panchali
Sham Lal
630
Street Culture
Arjun Appadurai
634
Soldiers of Secularism
Dilip Bohh
643
The Graceful Classicism of M.S. Subbulakshmi
Gowri Ramnarayan
651
Who's Afraid of the Indian nude?
Geeta Doctor
654
The Celebration of Indian Unity
Asghar Ali Engineer
659
Lessons From The Mountains
C.S. Lakshmi
664
Redefining Gurus
Aruna Roy
668
Some Good News
Kalpana Sharma
678
A Question of Keys
Dom Moraes
681
A shrine at the Border
Amitava Kumar
684
Religion and Civilization
Mushirul Hasan
688
Journey of the Zardozi
Ritu Kumar
695
On the March to Modernity
Aniket Alam
698
Why India Survives
Ramachandra Guha
703
Khan Saheb in Kashi
Shekhar Gupta
707
Bibliography713
Index of Contributors717
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