final views on news 22 february 2015

`100VIEWS ON NEWSTHE CRITICAL EYE

Why DIDI and DADAfell apart

Media tycoon Aveek Sarkar’s warm ties with Mamata Banerjee turn into a cold war

SHOULD GOVT CONTROL TERROR REPORTING? 44

CENSOR BOARD CHIEF PAHLAJ NIHALANI ON HIS ‘ACTION HERO’ MODI 38

JE SUIS LAXMANThe uncommon

life of RK Laxman 21

WHAT AN IDEA, SIR JI!Gopinath Menon writes on the trend of clubbing ads with social messages 24

HOW A TOUGH MODI BUREAUCRAT WAS COLD- SHOULDERED 32

Introducing new section on Governance

WE MAKE IT our dharma never to be satisfied by resting

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Good governance has today been transformed from a

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For VON, covering various aspects of gov-

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fortnightly and the adventurous 24X7 TV channel with a

difference—APN-TV.

There’s a smorgasbord of stories on governance in

this issue. Pick any dish. You’ll enjoy it. Let’s start with

the exclusive interview with Prime Minister Modi’s main

man on the Censor Board following the recent un-

pheavals. Pahlaj Nihalani, writer Somi Das says, “has no

qualms about admitting his love for Modi.” Veteran Vivian

Fernandes, whose columns for this magazine are gaining

in popularity, tackles the subject of government servants

who speak out or blow the whistle. He cites the example

of bureaucrat Alexander Luke, once a Modi favorite who

fell out. Find out why.

And in the spotlight in our new Governance section is

a thoughtful analysis about whether there is a need to

bring in official guidelines for the media when reporting

on terrorism. Minister Arun Jaitley is seriously toying with

the idea of bringing in a law to regulate coverage of

such violence.

And for those who have taken a fancy to the short and

spicy insider accounts of who’s doing what to whom

within the closed confines of the bureaucracy, ministerial

circles, and political backrooms, we’re featuring our writer

Roshni under a new sub-head entitled: “Grapevine.”

Enjoy the pickings.

THE GOVERNANCE IMPERATIVE

EDIT

OR

’S N

OTE

3VIEWS ON NEWS February 22, 2015

C O N Editor-in-Chief Rajshri Rai

Managing EditorRamesh Menon

Deputy Managing EditorShobha JohnSenior EditorVishwas Kumar

Associate EditorMeha Mathur

Deputy EditorsPrabir Biswas

Niti SinghAssistant Editor

Somi DasArt Director

Anthony LawrenceSenior Visualizer

Amitava SenGraphic Designer

Lalit KhitoliyaPhotographer

Anil ShakyaNews Coordinator/Photo Researcher

Kh Manglembi DeviProduction

Pawan Kumar

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LEDE

Why Dada and Didi went to war 13The relations between media baron Aveek Sarkar andWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata have hit a low, writesSUJIT BHAR

Endangered world 16RAMESH MENON reviews journalist and environmentalistBahar Dutt’s book, Green Wars, which gives an insight into the reasons behind man-nature conflict

4 VIEWS ON NEWS February 22 , 2015

BOOK REVIEW

T E N T S

CASE STUDY

OBITUARY

The Common Man lives onASHIM CHOUDHURY on the country’sbest-known cartoonist, RK Laxman

21

Tough men don’t last 32

ADVERTISING

Brand building 24

R E G U L A R SEdit................................................03Media-go-round............................06As the world turns.........................07Vox populi.....................................08Expertspeak..................................09Quotes..........................................10Breaking news..............................28Grapevine.....................................50

Advertising is all about ideas—andsome ideas stand out because oftheir engagement with society,writes GOPINATH MENON

Like many before him, bureaucratAlexander Luke learnt that beingmorally upright in a world of businessand political machinations is not forthe faint-hearted, writes VIVIAN FERNANDES

38INTERVIEW

Modi’s man in theCensor Board

Even as Jaitley talks about bringing ina law to control coverage of terror attacks, six years after 26/11, no guidelines exist for the media to follow, writes AKASH BANERJEE

Controlling terrorreportage

SPOTLIGHT

Behind the leak 20MR DUA reviews Charlie Beckettand James Ball’s revelatory book,WikiLeaks. The daring disclosuresin 2010 got world leaders nervous

44

The new Censor Board chief, Pahlaj Nihalani, has no qualms about admittinghis love for Modi. He talks about hisplans in a tete-a-tete with SOMI DAS

5VIEWS ON NEWS February 22 , 2015

Governance

Cover design: Anthony Lawrence

FORMER UNION environment ministerJayanthi Natarajan resigned from theCongress after writing a searing letter toparty president Sonia Gandhi. In the tell-allletter, Natarajan took potshots at partyvice-president Rahul Gandhi, blaming himfor her removal as environment minister in2013 to push for big ticket projects, whichshe rejected as they were against the norms. The Nehru-Gandhi loyalistalso wrote that her sources in Rahul Gandhi's office told her that hissupporters planted negative stories about her in the media while SoniaGandhi refrained her from speaking to the press.

Jayanthi Natarjandrops letter bomb

AN IMAM in Kashmir has claimed he lost hisjob after featuring in the movie, Haider. He hassent a legal notice to director Vishal Bhardwajto pay the damages, The Times of India re-ported. Imam Ghulam Hassan Shah, a resi-dent of South Kashmir’s Qazigund area, allegedhe “read the nikah and participated in a videoshoot with the promise of the video ‘being uti-lized for some educative purpose”. It was laterused in the film, costing him his job, saidShah’s lawyer, Firdous Ahmad Bhat, in a legalnotice sent to the director.

Imam loses job for Haider role

PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi andUS President Barack Obama bondedover their humble beginnings on theradio show, Mann ki Baat, which isModi's monthly address to the nation.

In their 30-minute talk that was re-plete with rich personal anecdotes, thetwo leaders said they never imaginedreaching high positions. “I think both ofus have been blessed with extraordinaryopportunity, coming from relativelyhumble beginnings,” Obama said in

answer to a question. “When I thinkabout what's best in America and what'sbest in India, the notion that a tea-selleror somebody who is born to a singlemother, like me, could end up leadingour countries is an extraordinaryexample of the opportunities thatexist within our countries.”As the sonof a tea vendor, Modi's personal storyis often compared to Obama'sinspirational rise to become America'sfirst black president.

NamObama tango on Mann Ki Baat

EDIA-GO-ROUNDM


FORMER FOREIGN Secretary Sujatha Singh,who was sacked on January 28, hit out at thegovernment in an exclusive interview to NDTV,

saying: “My reputation is being maligned, myrecord being trashed. Why was this necessary?”Singh was removed by the government with justseven months to go before retirement, andreplaced by S Jaishankar, former envoy to theUS, after a successful visit by President BarackObama. “It was a decision that had already beentaken and nothing I could have done would havemade a difference,” she said.

Sujatha Singh resigns, slams govt

CONTROVERSIAL FILM Kissa

Kursi Ka, depicting the ex-cesses of the Emergency,made by one-time CongressMP-turned detractor, Amrit Na-hata, is in the limelightagain.The film, made in 1975,was banned and its negativesreportedly burnt by Congress’Sanjay Gandhi and then I&B Minister, VC Shukla, in viola-tion of a Supreme Court order. Forty years later, the film-maker’s son, Raakesh Nahata, is threatening to sue theI&B ministry, The Times of India reported.

Plan to sue I&B ministry

AKSHAY KUMAR'S spy thriller, Baby, hasbeen banned by the Pakistan CensorBoard, for allegedly portraying Muslimsin a negative light. "The Censor Boardsin Islamabad and Karachi have decidedto ban the film because it portrays anegative image of Muslims and thenegative characters in the film haveMuslim names,” indiatoday.in

reported, quoting Dawn.

Designer thrilled by Michelle dress

Pak bans Baby

BRITISH TABLOID The Sun created ripples by an-nouncing it will no longer feature topless women onits Page 3, ending a controversial tradition that haslasted decades. The Guardian reported that Page 3had gone for good. “The Sun has scrapped Page 3’stopless women after 44 years, delighting the legion ofcritics who have branded the photos of bare-breastedmodels sexist, offensive and anachronistic,” The

Guardian said. However, two days later, The Sun wentahead with its Page 3 with a picture of Nicole, 22,from Bournemouth. “We would like to apologize on

behalf of print andbroadcast journalistswho have spent the lasttwo days talking andwriting about us,” thepaper stated. Its frontpage carried the head-line: “We've had amammary lapse.”

INDIAN-AMERICAN fashion designerBibhu Mohapatra was in for a surprisewhen one of his friends sent him a pictureof a TV grab that showed US First LadyMichelle Obama wearing a silk dress fromhis Spring collection as she landed in NewDelhi, The Economic Times reported. “It islike a full circle. The first lady in my home-land, wearing one of my clothes,” the 42-year-old Rourkela-born designer said from

New York.The first lady descended fromAir Force One wearing a knee-length floraldress paired with a matching coat andblack pumps designed by Mohapatra. Theaward winning designer said he hoped tosoon get the opportunity to design forPrime Minister Narendra Modi as well. Hesaid that he was proud to have connectedIndia and US in a small way through hiswork.

S THE WORLD TURNSA


The Sunconfounds media

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY fought toughcompetition from the Duchess ofCambridge, Kate Middleton, to benamed most stylish celebritymom-to-be. The actress, whoannounced that she was pregnantlast month, took more than a

quarter, 26 percent, of votes in apoll by baby brandMy1stYears.com, Hello! magazinereported. The 29-year-oldAtonement actor is expecting herfirst child with her husband,James Righton.

Keira Knightleyis most stylish mom-to-be

BOTH THE Wall Street Journal

blog India Real Time and The

Washington Post website, have up-loaded what they call the Indiangovernment's air-brushed video ofthe just-concluded visit of the USPresident, Barack Obama. Theypoint out how the Ministry of Exter-

Blackout or bias?nal Affairs' eight-minute videocarefully omits Obama’scomments on religious freedommade at Siri Fort. Both media, ofcourse, think this was one of themost significant moments of theObama visit,www.thehoot.org

has reported.

OX POPULI WHAT PEOPLE WANT

The expectationout of a lifestylesection of any mag-azine is to be ableto catch the latesttrends. The contentthat holds myinterest is travel,fitness and food.Flipping throughpictures of thelatest trends inclothes or make-upis the main reasonfor choosing a par-

ticular lifestyle magazine.Vogue, Elle, Prevention, Cos-mopolitan are some of mypicks. MSN India, being thedefault web page at work, be-came a preferential browsingpage for me. These days, I amexploring Pininterest and findit interesting in terms of con-tent and presentation.

— Manisha Dubey, head,communications, Pine Labs

I look out for high-end products, withelements of fun. Ilove Vogue andConde Nast Traveler.Keeping Up WithKardarshians is myfavorite TV show.

— Ranjunee Chakma,fashion stylist andmedia consultant

I generally look outfor interiors, arte-facts and recipes sothat I can cook dif-ferently for mykids. This takescare of my twin in-terests of home andchildren. I also liketo read gossipcolumns, relatingto films, politicsand the fashionworld. Cosmopoli-tan, Femina, DelhiTimes and theGoogle app on myphone are my fa-vorites. I enjoy Pin-

interest as well.

— Rachana Mahajan Sharma,home-maker

All that GLITTERS

V

VON talks toreaders to findout what theyare looking forwhen they readlifestyle content

Fashion, beauty,hair, makeup,accessories andjewelery are someof the things thathold my interest. I

have two daughters and want them to bewell turned-out, so I look out for these sec-tions in Femina, Elle and Vogue. NDTV’sBand Baaja Bride is also among my fa-vorite programs.

— Dolly Agnihotri, jewelery designer

I usually browse the net for lifestyle news. Ifollow GQ and Menxp for news on the latestgadgets. I like reading Men’s Health. I also lookout for haute resto-pubs, fashion trends, salestrategies and international celebrity gossip.

— Kabir Bhatnagar, media professional

I browse fashion andbeauty magazines to keepup with the latest trends.

The buzz in fashion, interms of colors and hues,

keeps changing so fast thatone needs to look at suchnews to keep oneself up-

dated. I usually read Cos-mopolitan and Elle for

this. I also love travel andlike to read about exotic

destinations and places tovisit. I really enjoy the

lifestyle programs on TLC.

— Reeta Agarwal, director,Packwell Packaging


When did lifestyle and fashion

journalism become big?Asian Age’s MJ Akbar was the first editor

to look at lifestyle and fashion in a news-

paper seriously in the 1990s. Lots of things

happened simultaneously. The two beauty

queens, Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai,

won the Miss Universe and Miss World

pageants respectively in 1994. The beauty

industry started growing around the same

time. There was greater acceptance for

such news in the media. People wanted to

read more and more feel-good stories.

How old is Page 3 in India?Strictly speaking, posing for pictures at a

party and then getting it covered was first

started by Delhi Times in the 1990s.

How easy is it to promote clientsin the lifestyle segment?It is getting tougher. Space is getting sold.

Advertorials have replaced editorials. If it’s

a new product that you want written

about, it is easier to promote it, but to

build a brand is becoming difficult be-

cause you need space for that in

newspapers and magazines, which is

becoming scarce.

How do readers decipher apromotional plug from

genuine content?Everything is doctored now, presented to

make a certain impression. Readers are

used to that now, of living in a make-be-

lieve world. A majority of them make their

own judgments based on their interest

levels. Readers pick up the news they want

to. Fixing reviews, writing columns for de-

“READERS can siftthe news from HYPE”

ANSHU KHANNA,founder of GoodwordCommunications thathas been promotingfashion and lifestylebrands for over twodecades, tells NITISINGH that readerspick the news theywant to and can seethrough the hypeas well

signers or the script of their interview with

journalists is part of the regular scene for

PR professionals. People are used to sifting

news from hype.

What helps to create hype for thebrands you promote?It’s all about cross-promotions. Essentially,

it is working out a matrix that benefits all

clients. So, a global luxury brand hosts an

event with a fashion magazine; an art

gallery owner with a fashion designer; a

restaurat owner with a painter. Foood and

venue are sponsored as the sponsor also

gets “coverage”. Everyone goes back

pleased and the media returns with

a “story”.

Where is Indian lifestyle PR moving?It is moving in two directions. At one level,

a very creative thought process is required.

At another level, it’s all about making

strategies. You need to understand the

pulse of the reader, the media canvas and

then promote it. These days, there are a lot

of two-brand promoters who can only

offer a confused perspective. We have now

started offering a 360-degree approach,

with a gamut of lifestyle media services in

one basket, which includes advertise-

ments, events, exhibitions, designer cards,

and even mall décor. We look at every-

thing that creates a “wow” factor. And

that’s what one needs to do to remain on

the scene.

Expertspeak Anshu Khanna


U O T E SQTaslima Nasreen,Bangladeshi authorIndia is becoming Saudi Arabia. Mumbai newspaper editor is arrestedfor reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

Harsha Bhogle, CricketCommentator It is a bit scary when people startarchiving, and distributing, what yousay in commentary!!

Vir Sanghvi, Journalist,TV anchor News channels can make anyone famous for 15 minutes. Anna nowseems so foolish and irrelevant whenhe attacks Modi and Kejriwal. Timeschange.

Yashwant Deshmukh,Founder of CVoterIt's utterly disgraceful of #Jayanthi-Natarajan for what she is trying to donow. And God help BJP if she is joiningthem to become kosher. (On Natara-jan’s letter to Sonia Gandhi accusingthe party of treating her unfairly)

Nikhil Wagle, Journalist Today is one of the darkest days of history when a pervert killed Mahatma.Let us stand against all theefforts to glorify this pervert murderer.(On Martyr’s Day)

Amitabh Bachchan,Actor Mamata di .. I am not deserving ofsuch recognition .. most humbled andhonoured by what the Nation hasgiven me ..!!? (on Mamata Banerjee‘ssuggestion that he should be givenBharat Ratna)

They (the TV chan-nels) danced about thefirst couple (!) of Indiaand the US rather likethe joyous cartoons ofModi and his cabineton Aaj Tak’s So Sorry.

But this was seriousbusiness: each channelwas there to outshoot

the others.— Shailaja Bajpai, in The

Indian Express

My favorite theory aboutwhy the US president

was propelled in India’sdirection is because theNRIs (who also runthe numerous NaMofan clubs) have nowinfiltrated the White

House with dhoklasand khakras.

— Saba Naqvi in Outlook

Bedi…has succumbed tothe temptation of seeking instant

gratification, her moveto join the BJP just

ahead of the electionsis an example of

well-crafted opportunism.

— Rajdeep Sardesai, columnistand TV anchor, in Hindustan Times.


I want to thank the BJP be-cause it is campaigning for

us. By constantly fighting among each

other, the BJPleaders are helping us. — Arvind Kejriwal, AAP,

in The Indian Express

Ralph Waldo Emerson was gay,but he influenced Henry DavidThoreau, who in turn influenced Mahatma Gandhi.This intellectual trail

brought “civil disobedience”and independenceto India. Doesthat still makeEmerson apervert and acriminal?— Dipankar Guptaon how ambiguityin BJP’s official position gives hopeto India’s homosex-ual community, inThe Times of India

No one will stop us from opening a library,where books highlighting the life of Godse,will be kept so that people may know him asa person. — Munna Kumar Sharma, Hindu Mahasabha General Secretary, in The Indian Express on opening a Godselibrary after a failed bid to install his bust in Meerut

JRD Tata first came away quite excited but he said we havebeen out of the airline industry for many years and the industry

has changed. ..so let’s go and get the best partner we can…andgive the country a world-class airline. That never happened.

The same government that asked us to start the airline, madesure that the airline would never happen.— Industrialist Ratan Tata, at a gathering to celebrate the

launch of Vistara

The new government has timeand again promisedthe people of thecountry to bring achedin. However, barringa few capitalists, noone else has experienced it.— Anti-graft activist AnnaHazare in his blog


Views On News (VON) is India’s premier fortnightly magazine that covers the wide spectrum of modern communication loosely known as “the media”. Its racy, news and analysis oriented story-telling encompasses current global and Indian developments, trends, future projections encompassing policy and business drifts, the latest from inside the print and electronic newsrooms, the exciting developments in ever-expanding digital space, trending matters in the social media, advertising, entertainment and books.

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FEBRUARY 7, 2015 `100VIEWS ON NEWSTHE CRITICAL EYEwww.viewsonnewsonline.com

Pushing the edgeDILIP BOBB EXAMINES THE ISSUE OF CREATIVE LICENSE AND ITS LIMITS 12

RAHUL PANDITA

AUTHOR OF THE ‘ASPIRATIONAL’

RESIGNATION LETTER 36CONVERSION CONUNDRUM

IS MEDIA ‘SEXING’ UP THE

ISSUE? 24

METRO READS

Junk the style and content,

fast - paced books are in 33

EDITOR UNPLUGGED

Vinod Mehta’s racy account of

his roller coaster journey 30

JUST NOT SPORTS

CLAMOR FOR AWARDS OPENS

UP A PANDORA’S BOX 39

Lede Aveek Sarkar

As editor and businessman,Aveek was hugely respected.Few understood his closenessto Mamata Banerjee. In amatter of time, they fell apartBY SUJIT BHAR

LOVE AFFAIR TURNEDSOUR

HE Trinamool Congress in

West Bengal is in a state of

rapid decay, and the media

is lapping it up. One media

house in particular, the

Anandabazar Patrika (ABP)

group, has been trumpeting its fall for quite

some time now. This stand is far removed from

what it was when Mamata Banerjee and her rag-

tag men were giving the red brigade of the CPI

(M) a hammering.

Those were the days when 34 years of stag-

gering misrule of the CPI (M) crumbled at the

glasnost call of Mamata’s “paribartan” (change).

Holding Didi’s hand all the way was the ABP

group. Everything she did was right, every word

that she said was for a new future and every

mistake made would be redressed with correc-

tive measures.

AUTOCRATIC REGIMEThen, the new roots started to show signs of rot—

the sheer autocratic nature of Chief Minister Ma-

mata Banerjee allowed no dissent—and rampant

corruption sprouted under the shade of the great

banyan. That there was no ideologue within the

party—Mamata’s word was law—meant there was

bound to be administrative disorientation once

the initial euphoria died down. And that is

what happened.

Suddenly, in the midst of Didi’s term, ABP

group’s supremo Aveek Sarkar realized how hol-

low was the drum he helped beat. Signals of a

misguided doctrine (if any) were there even as the

Singur land agitation threw the Tatas and their

proposed Nano plant out of the state. Things

came to a head when a rape on Park Street was

trivialized by Mamata, who even cast aspersions

on the character of the victim.

IN GOOD TIMESABP group chief

Aveek Sarkarwith Mamata

Banerjee

T


Those were the early turning points of ABP’s

own “paribartan”. If Mamata’s party has reached a

nadir in public perception today, especially due to

the dramatic revelations of the huge Saradha chit

fund scam—in which the CBI has already arrested

four party head honchos, including minister Madan

Mitra—it is the ABP group that is now hunting with

the hounds, so to speak.

TROUBLED TIMESMeanwhile, the law and order situation has wors-

ened. The Bardhaman blast established that the

state has become a safe haven for Bangladeshi ter-

rorist outfits.

In keeping with her habit of shooting her

mouth, Mamata even said that the blasts could have

been stage-managed by the RAW.

This further added to her inability to handle na-

tional-level politics, even as the stock of her party

was spiralling down. The ABP group was the fore-

runner in pin-pointing the many flaws within the

TMC and how the party was on the verge

of a breakdown.

One cannot blame the media for using ammu-

nition that the chief minister herself has handed

over to them. The police, which has been acting the

stooge perfectly—as it did during the CPI (M) rule–

went ahead and blew up the improvised explosive

devices found in Bardhaman, robbing National In-

vestigating Agency experts of an opportunity to

study the bombs and detonators.

While one really cannot understand the ration-

ale behind Mamata and her men protesting the

NIA’s involvement in a blast case which is really

much more than arson, it is evident why they were

against the involvement of the CBI in the Saradha

scam case —their own MPs and senior functionar-

ies were involved in it.

Amidst this chaos came the news that Aveek

Sarkar had been provided “Y” category security by

the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

More than signifying the evident closeness that

the media house has developed with the ruling BJP

dispensation at the center, it has also created a pub-

lic percept that nobody is safe in West Bengal today.

CLASSY MANSarkar has always been in a class of his own. There

was a time when he assiduously avoided personal

publicity. His dailies, the Bengali Anandabazar Pa-

trika and The Telegraph in English, were instructed

not to publish any picture of his. He rarely gave

Sarkar is as astute an editor as he is abusinessman. He has guided the ABP

group to the top of the heap ofpublications in the state and its

revenues are next to none in the region.

IN THE DOCKThe arrested Saradha

Group chairmanSudipta Sen (second

from left)

Lede Aveek Sarkar


speeches. The situation has changed today, espe-

cially with the group’s foray into the electronic

space through ABP News and ABP Ananda.

The security, as sources point out, is apparently

to guard him against extremist outfits, including

fringe religious groups. But till the time of sanc-

tioning the security detail, the CRPF, which is the

local agency handling it, had no idea about what

the threat perception was.

According to Vivek Sahay, IG, CRPF: “It is up

to the MHA to assess the threat perception of an

individual and then decide on which agency—the

NSG, CRPF, etc—is to handle this. When we get

our orders, we will start collecting information.”

So even while there has been talk that the

media tycoon has had apprehensions about his

safety in a volatile political situation, it is not clear

how his “Y” category detail (with 11 security per-

sonnel) is related to the TMC and its supremo,

Mamata Banerjee, if at all.

Compare this to the “Y” security cover given

to New Delhi-based journalist Aniruddha Bahal.

Bahal has always courted controversy with various

stings, be it on cricket betting, defence scam or

bank scam. His Cobrapost website is full of contro-

versies; that is what Bahal revels in. Sarkar, on the

other hand, is as astute an editor as he is business-

man. He has guided the ABP group to the top of

the heap of publications in the state and neighbor-

ing states and its revenues are next to none in

the region.

One may point out that Aveek Sarkar’s sense of

propriety in public life is impeccable. He has never

really had to depend on any political party for his

success. And he guards his personal space strongly.

Sometime after former chief minister Buddhadeb

Bhattacharya allotted a Kolkata police security de-

tail for Sarkar, the editor-in-chief had it removed

because he believed that the police had planted a

mole within the detail to report his whereabouts.

Hence, the group’s acrimonious relationship

with the TMC has come to a head. One can recall

the time when Mamata had been at the side of the

Sarkars—even if it was The Telegraph that exposed

her spurious doctorate degree availed through a

degree mill. One can recall the hours Mamata

stood on the street watching with consternation

as a devastating fire engulfed the ABP group’s

main building in central Kolkata.

People who have been close to the enigmatic

Mamata say she has her heart in the right place. She

knew the power of the media in building a political

career and the Sarkars did not disappoint her. Then,

at the pinnacle of her career, she suddenly forgot

the many rungs she used to climb this far.

Is this loan foreclosure time for the media?

TOP LEAGUEAveek Sarkar withBarack and MichelleObama on their recentvisit to New Delhi


Bahar Dutt would rather be knownas a conservationist than a journalist, as she has contributed a lot to increasingawareness about the environment.Her fast-paced book is a goodread. You are wiser atthe end of itBY RAMESH MENON

Book Review

ournalists are generalists

and are expected to know

something of everything. But

where we lack in Indian jour-

nalism is the urge to specialize

in a field and become true ex-

perts. Most journalists just float

through their careers doing anything and every-

thing as their organizations also do not encourage

them to invest time and effort to master one area

and research and analyze. After all, they are just in-

terested in getting the news and moving on. Report-

ing on the environment has been one weak area in

India despite the fact that it is one of the most cru-

cial. Most magazines and newspapers do not even

have a specialized reporter on this beat. If there is

something to be written or covered in this field, any

reporter is assigned to do it. That is why when Bahar

Dutt was drafted in to exclusively cover the environ-

ment by CNN-IBN, there was a fresh, in-depth style

Green Wars: Dispatches from a Vanishing World/Bahar Dutt

JENDANGERED

WORLD

“Conservationists have propagated a banon the hunting of wild animals but whenanimals like the wild boar, elephant andsloth bear destroy poor people’s crops, theyoffer no solutions. That’s why wildlife conservation is often seen as anti-people.”—Bahar Dutt, conservationist-cum-journalist

to the pioneering environment

coverage that the channel did.

That is, of course, only till they

got rid of her as commercial in-

terests took over and environ-

ment was one of the areas then

went out of the window.

But for young journalists like

Bahar, there should be one rea-

son for cheer. Many commoners

are today realizing the need for

conservation and are ready to

learn, agitate and fight to save it.

VANISHING TRIBEI have watched Bahar’s video stories with great in-

terest, as what makes them stand out is the detail

she weaves in with the perspective. No wonder it

was a pleasure to read her book, Green Wars: Dis-

patches from a Vanishing World that chronicles the

tragedy of India’s vanishing natural wealth and

wildlife. Though the tribe of environment journal-

ists is a vanishing one, it feels good to see someone

like Bahar take up cudgels to fight the powers-

that-be who are destroying the environment to

further their business interests. It also reminds you

that the media can be a catalyst in changing atti-

tudes towards nature. After all, we are only de-

stroying our future.

Bahar is a conservation biologist who strayed

into journalism. In the process, she showed us

what it really takes to be one. She did path-break-

ing stories, travelled to difficult places, fought for

conservation like a committed activist and

followed her stories to a logical end as she really

cared. In a fast-paced world where news dies after

it is aired, her follow-ups showed that news

needs to be chased till the very end. Her

pioneering work won her the Wildscreen - Green

Oscar award among numerous national and inter-

national awards.

Wildlife was her first love and not journalism.

She ran an animal ambulance for injured primates,

helped build rope bridges for the colobus monkey

in Africa, studied Amazonian monkeys at the

world famous Jersey Zoo in the United Kingdom

and worked for a decade with a traditional com-

munity of snake charmers in India, helping them

find livelihood options in tune with wildlife laws.

As she did all this, she pushed the boundaries of

environment journalism. That journey itself



taught her how to be open and sensitive to issues

and not just skip it as most of us journalists do.

Bahar raises vital questions of how a moderniz-

ing economy brings in ecological destruction and

misplaced priorities and whether development must

always be in conflict with the environment.

SOLID RESEARCHERGreen Wars makes us think deeply of vexed issues

that are today disturbing question marks as far as

our ecology and environment go. Bahar writes with

passion that comes straight from the heart. It is like

a personal story. And the research shows. She is a

hard-boiled researcher and that is what makes her

stories so powerful. Little-known facts blossomed

in her TV stories at CNN-IBN along with a perspec-

tive that television hardly offered. Her stories made

you understand the landscape in which wildlife

conservation operated in India. Preservation of

Book ReviewGreen Wars: Dispatches from a Vanishing World/Bahar Dutt


species was daunting as it involved complicated

caste dynamics of the people around, if they were

rich or poor and how regional biases and political

interests called the shots.

Bahar showed how environment stories are not

soft features as most editors in India imagine, but

hard news. One example is her investigation on how

sarus cranes were being chased away by Uttar

Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s

supporters to convince a central government com-

mittee that there were no birds there and so they

could okay an airport there.

What is fascinating about Green Wars are Bahar’s

numerous anecdotes, each of which is a lesson for

all of us. Bahar says that if we want wild animals

around, we have to learn how to manage the asso-

ciated conflict that comes with it. She says: “Espe-

cially around forest areas, conservationists have

propagated a complete ban on the hunting of wild

animals but when animals like the wild boar, spot-

ted deer, elephant and sloth bear destroy poor peo-

ple’s crops, they offer no solutions and expect that

people should just ‘live with the problem’. And that

is partly why wildlife conservation is often seen as

being anti-people.”

THE FINE LINEHowever, there is also the development debate that

is valid and the country cannot say no to every proj-

ect as there are environmental concerns. What jour-

nalists need to do is to finely tread the balancing

line, keeping the interests of change and develop-

ment along with environmental protection that is

equally crucial. Mining may be important, but so

are forests.

Numerous instances in Bahar’s book tell us pre-

cisely this. It is for us to see the danger signals. Time

and again, she points out that there are solid eco-

nomic and social considerations that actually call

for saying no to big projects which, most of the time,

ignore the needs of the disadvantaged.

Green Wars- Dispatches from a Vanishing WorldBy Bahar DuttHarperCollins IndiaRs 299, 163 pages

HEN WikiLeaks, abruptly

made daring disclosures in

2010, in global media

outlets, of some top-most

confidential cables and over

a million government documents, many political

leaders of the world slipped into stupefied,

breathless predicament.

Knowing the global interest this issue would

garner, authors Charlie Beckett and James Ball,

both from the media think-tank of the London

School of Economics, ingeniously put together a

book on it, WikiLeaks: News in the Networked Era.

It deals with how the WikiLeaks style of

journalism would impact future global media

scenario and unauthorized disclosure of protected

governmental information.

The book provides details of some benchmark

events in the last few years and how these papers

leaked government secrets of the US, the UK, Iraq,

Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, France and

many other countries. These were stealthily

collected, stolen or divulged for monetary consid-

erations and disseminated globally by WikiLeaks.

What wentbehind the

world’s greatestleak? How did it

manage to getglobal leaders

nervous? BY MR DUA

SENSATIONAL LEAKSJulian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks

Book ReviewWikiLeaks

Taking the world by stormNaturally, top leadership in these countries was

taken aback.

GLOBAL MEDIA

The publication of these papers was contracted by

WikiLeaks with leading dailies worldwide such as

The New York Times (the US), The Guardian (the

UK), Le Monde (France), The Hindu (India), Der

Spiegel (Germany), The Dawn (Pakistan) and El

Pais (Spain). As the documents hit global media,

political leaders looked for answers from their

secret services and intelligence agencies.

Meanwhile, as bit and pieces of information

surfaced, it came to be known that WikiLeaks

called itself a digital media organization, a “most

challenging journalism phenomenon” in the dig-

ital era. But it was of stateless origin, its credentials

suspect, and its unknown owner-editor-in-chief,

Julian Assange, held a treasure trove of top secrets

on war, particularly Iraq and Afghanistan. It broke

landmark stories comparable to the famous

Pentagon Papers and its dispatches led to the

creation of a “radical development in journalism

story-telling”, also called “WikiLeaks Journalism”.

Highly readable and well-researched, the

book’s four chapters discuss enormously complex

media-centered issues that WikiLeaks had given

birth to, including journalists’ rights, responsibil-

ities, ethics, truth and transparency. The authors

see a bright future for WikiLeaks type of journal-

ism, though Julian Assange, its father, has himself

been evading the long rope of law as several crim-

inal charges are there against him.

Though expensive, the book is, undoubtedly

compelling reading.

Book: Wikileaks: News In TheNetworked Era

By: Charlie Beckett and James Ball Publisher: Polity Press

Price: $54.99Pages: 198


Obituary RK Laxman

He was India’s best-knowncartoonist, though his creation

was more popular than hewas. With his deft lines and

witty humor, this prolific genius touched many lives

day after day, year after year BY ASHIM CHOUDHURY

LONG LIVE THE COMMON

MAN!

T was July 1990. Calcutta was

agog. RK Laxman was com-

ing to town for his exhibition,

“City Life”, chronicling the

life and times of the city

through his sketches. I was

with the air force then, but nurturing dreams of

making it as a writer and a cartoonist. And be-

fore me, at the exhibition, mobbed by admiring

fans was the legend himself. I instantly made up

my mind to interview him. He wasn’t very oblig-

ing, as I neither had a prior appointment nor

was I on the staff of The Statesman or even the

fledgling Telegraph. But, not one to be put off by

insolence, I pursued him doggedly, forcing him

I

or, more often, his wife to answer my questions.

“City Life” was a roaring success as his sketches

had transformed Calcutta’s garbage dumps, pot-

holes, and traffic jams – all those mundane,

frustrating aspects – into hilarious images.

Since he did not live in the city, I was

prompted to ask how he managed to draw those

vivid sketches. “He has a photographic mind,”

Kamala, his wife offered. “He has a remarkable

ability to remember places pictorially.” The

sketches were products of an earlier visit to the

city as he remembered it. It was this pictorial as-

pect of his cartoons that made them so appeal-

ing. Very often, they did

not say a word, and

yet the reader got the

message with a gen-

tle nudge on his

Illustrations: Ashim


funny bone. Laxman’s humor was rarely acerbic,

tickling rather than poking the ribs. Between the

common man and the establishment, he clearly

sided with the underdog. “Is the cartoonist a nat-

ural enemy of the establishment?” I had asked. He

fumbled for words finally saying: “Not exactly…

but a cartoonist naturally goes against the grain.”

FAMILY MANLaxman’s cockiness, which came from knowing

that he was the best, was mistaken by many for

vanity and arrogance. It wasn’t so. The man who

many thought was aloof (he had a soundproof

room to himself at The Times of India office in

Mumbai) was actually the family’s “handy man” as

his wife put it. He loved unwinding, doing the odd

job at home, repairing a leaking tap, replacing a

broken windowpane or adjusting the TV anten-

nae. When he was around at home, the plumber

or the mechanic had no business there. At home

he did no cartooning, except the odd freelance

work. Remember Gattu, the Asian Paint boy? His

daily cartoons were the result of a strict regime

from 9 am to 5 pm in the office, where the first half

of the day went in reading various newspaper sto-

ries and headlines. In the second half, he crystal-

lized his thoughts and put them to paper with the

deft strokes of his brush. Even editors did not al-

ways have the temerity to knock or enter his room

when he was working.

Though in the nineties cartoons had still not

been banished from the front pages, I had asked

him what he thought of “cartooning as a dying art”.

His face betrayed anger at the impertinence of the

question. Put to the doyen of Indian cartooning,

it did sound irreverent. But soon the livid expres-

sion melted into a smile that revealed his buck-

teeth. And he guffawed: “…not as long as I’m

alive”. But to young people, like me, he did not rec-

ommend cartooning as a profession. “Don’t!” he

had said. It was Kamala who explained: “He thinks

it’s a thankless job.” Raising a laugh was no laugh-

ing matter; I had tried it briefly too. How Laxman

managed to regale people with his deft lines and

witty humor day after day, year after year, will re-

main an enigma. True, towards the end of his ca-

reer he had begun to lose that punch. But then, the

sheer volume of his work was monumental. There

are no parallels to his prolific genius.

Rarely has a man’s creation been more popular

than the man himself, in this case, the Common

Man – the ageing bespectacled man in his checked

jacket. “Why does he look so helpless…Why does-

n’t your Common Man get angry?” I had asked.

Laxman loved doing the odd job at home,repairing a leaking tap, replacing a

broken windowpane. When he was aroundat home, the plumber or the mechanic had

no business there.

IMMORTAL CREATIONAn 8-feet bronze

statue of the “commom man”

was erected at the Symbiosis Institute,

Pune in 2001

Obituary RK Laxman


For a moment, the master of punning looked help-

less searching for a retort, then his expression

turned angry and he blurted: “…With the Chau-

talas and Devi Lals around, what can he do?”

(Those days, the National Front government was

gripped by a crisis when Chautala was re-elected

the chief minister of Haryana). He was clear; he

blamed politicians for the sad plight of the com-

mon man. Then, calling back through the throng

of autograph seekers he said: “You can quote me

on that.” There was something impish and child-

like about Laxman. Deep down, he strongly em-

pathized with the common man. It was this

empathy that had millions of readers looking at his

cartoons the first thing before moving on to the

day’s headlines.

A COMMON LIFELaxman’s inspiration was David Low, the famous

British cartoonist. “He was the only cartoonist I

was exposed to in my early childhood,” Laxman

admitted. Low later visited him in Bombay. There

were many, kings, queens and heads of states who

sought him out.

But this nation’s conscience-keeper once learnt

the hard way the perils of being a common man.

His car had broken down on Marine Drive in

Mumbai on his way back from office. For over an

hour, he stood on the road with his thumbs up,

pleading for a ride. Not a single car stopped. It was

little consolation that the next day, all the newspa-

pers in the city carried this story on their

front pages.

It is ironical that this celebrated cartoonist was

at one time denied entry into the JJ School of Art

for not having the “right” talent. That denial hurt

him deeply. To young aspiring artists his advice

was: “Don’t go to any art school; it kills your cre-

ativity.” He also encouraged them not to copy but

develop their own style.

With his passing away an epoch has ended.

The man who worked with The Times of India

since 1948 for over five decades, leaves behind a

humungous body of work that should be treated

as a national heritage. The best tribute to this ge-

nius would be to bring back cartoons to our front

pages. Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman is dead,

long live the Common Man!

Ashim Choudhury is the author of “The

Sergeant’s Son”

“He has a photographic mind. Hehas a remarkable ability to

remember places pictorially.”—RK Laxman’s wife Kamala explain-

ing how her husband managed todraw vivid sketches


AdvertisingBrand building

Advertising is all about ideas–brilliant, eye-catching, heart-tugging.

And yet, some stand apart from therest of the motley crowd for their

engagement with societyBY GOPINATH MENON

growing economy affects the advertis-

ing world too. While the growth rate in

India is at a steady five percent, overall

investments in advertising and promo-

tions have averaged around half a per-

cent of the total GDP. The staggering

number has resulted in countless commercial spots on

television and radio and ads in newspapers.

The Times of India alone brings, on an average, more

than Rs 12 crore of daily revenue. But most readers

spend less than 15 minutes on their morning paper even

as countless advertisers try to catch their attention. Apart

from this, more than six million spots are delivered to

TV audiences. These, coupled with 100 mainline

newspapers, 200 radio stations and countless

A

WHAT AN 24 VIEWS ON NEWS February 22 , 2015

IDEA, SIRJI!MAKING A ROARAircel saw an opportunity andpicked up the issueof tiger extinction tojazz up its brand’sfortunes


billboards lead to “fatigue” among consumers. This

is dangerous as the brands depend on the

consumer’s attention for growth. No wonder they are

looking at innovative ways to keep people engaged.

Brands have now started to talk to consumers

instead of talking down at them. The exclusivity of

the past has given way to inclusiveness. Advertisers

now focus on issues that concern society and

everyday lives. Here are some ads that stood out for

their engagement with society:

AIRCEL: SAVE THE TIGERThis was started some years ago when cellular

service players were serious and aggressive about

PLEASURES OF AHAPPY HOME

Adoption of the girl childis skillfully woven intothe Nestle campaign

that conveys themessage of happinessthrough the language

of food

“share of voice”. The belief was that anyone who

shouts the loudest was the best. Aircel saw an

opportunity and picked up the issue of tiger extinc-

tion to jack up its brand. Its initiative was shown on

news channels and the implications to humans

without tigers was stressed. It rubbed off positively

on Aircel, which otherwise had no novelty.

THE TIMES OF INDIA: LEAD INDIA ANDTEACH INDIAIn sync with the mind space it occupies, BCCL

Group started a Leadership series involving lead-

ers narrating their stories. This was followed by

the popular “Teach India” campaign. It aimed at

including youngsters who refrained from reading

papers and instead, got news on mobiles. This

TOI initiative appealed to educated readers and

urged them to take up teaching the underprivi-

leged with BCCL’s infrastructure and help. The

campaign built social equity for The Times of

India brand, which, otherwise was seen as a ship

without a visible captain. The initiative was a

Brands have started talking toconsumers. The exclusivity of the past

has now given way to inclusiveness.Advertisers now focus on issues that

concern society and everyday lives.

AdvertisingBrand building


marketing miracle.

TATA TEA: ‘JAGO RE’This was a scintillating case study of building so-

cial capital using a national concern. The “Need to

Vote” in a striving democracy was the highlight of

this campaign. The increase in voting over the last

6-7 years in Lok Sabha, assembly and university

elections could perhaps be attributed to this strate-

gic effort by Tata Tea. Most importantly, it was in

sync with the product values of tea “waking” you

up. Tea is supposed to kick-start your mind in the

morning and the “Jago Re” campaign was por-

trayed as kick-starting your future. This was a

movement that catalyzed the youth and elderly. It

was shown in a commonsensical, humorous way.

NESTLE: ADOPTION OF THE GIRL CHILDFMCG companies are often seen as chasing green

bucks. They try to sell things to people that they

don’t need, be it noodles, coffee, milk powder,

snacks, soups, baby foods, ketchup, etc. And yet,

SOCIAL STRATEGYTata Tea’s ‘Jago Re’campaign was peggedalong with the nationgoing to vote

they are billion dollar companies which have

looked after their stakeholders and customers. The

answer lies in quality products that build happy

homes through the homemaker. Hence, this cor-

porate initiative by Nes tle is rare and commend-

able. It emphasizes two things: One, the pain and

pleasure of adopting a child, and second, the

adopted girl child is from the North-east. It also

conveys happiness through the language of food.

Most homemakers, after seeing this commercial,

would be tempted to buy a Nestle product to

demonstrate affinity for this cause.

All these ads show that it is not enough to have

an idea. One has to be creative and sensitive about

delivering the idea to your advantage. So while

brands such as Airtel, Toyota and Seagram have at-

tempted to build social capital, they need to learn

sensitivity and relevance from the ones listed

above. Otherwise, they will be one among the six

million spots one sees every month and end up

being blind spots in the consumers’ psyche, leaving

one irritated.

Tea is supposed tokick-start your mind inthe morning and the‘Jago Re’ campaign wasportrayed as kick-start-ing your future. Thismovement catalyzed theyouth and the elderly.


NEWSDATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME

9:47 AM 9:50 AM 9:58 AM 10:42AM 10:42AM

17/1/15

17/1/15

17/1/15

18/1/15

18/1/15

18/1/15

19/1/15

Nine Censor Board members send theirresignation letters to I&B Ministry in support of Leela Samson

Shiv Sena considering contestingDelhi polls: Uddhav Thackeray

BJP is importing leaders, Kiran Bedi andKejriwal are opportunists. Bedi alwayssaid she won’t enter politics: Ajay Maken

Camera has changed the definition ofnews, more focus on news on corruptionand crime; social media breaks news fasterthan TV: Arun Jaitley

BJP has parachuted Kiran Bedi, she isbeing made a scapegoat for BJP’sdefeat in Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal

Former AAP leader Vinod KumarBinny joins BJP, could fight againstManish Sisodia

High alert issued before Obama’s visit, threatof terror attack by LeT; security strengthenedin India-Pak border, additional BSF unit sentto the borders

11:35 AM 11:55 AM

19/1/15Congress lodges complaint with ECagainst Kejriwal for saying that theparty indulges in distributing money

10:35 AM 2:00 PM10:32 AM

4:12PM

12:07PM12:06PM 12:10PM 12:13PM 12:13PM

1:17PM 1:17PM 1:19PM

4:15PM 4:18PM

10:38 AM 10:46 AM 11:26AM10:35AM

4:18PM 4:18PM 4:18PM

4:12PM4:12PM

12:19 PM

4:12PM


Here are some of the major news items aired on television channels, recorded by our unique 24x7 dedicated media monitoring unit that scrutinizes more than 130 TV channels in different Indian languages and looks at who breaks the news first.

DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME

20/1/15

21/1/15

22/1/15

22/1/15

23/1/15

23/1/15

24/1/15

NEWS

Kiran Bedi declared CM candidate for BJP;Kejriwal congratulates Bedi, invites herfor a public debate

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari’s challenge to Kejriwal to fight against Bedi

Modi and Obama to address a jointMann ki baat on January 27, MichelleObama to accompany

Kiran Bedi is BJP’s masterstroke, will proveto be a good CM: Shanti Bhushan

Obama to India Today: Modi’s becomingPM is beneficial for USA, Modi has a clearvision and Modi’s policies will improveIndo-US relations

Modi to address 3-4 election rallies inDelhi, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhay sayshe will be addressing the rallies from January 29 to February 4

Barack Obama’s Agra tour cancelled for security reasons; was scheduled to visitAgra with Michelle on January 27

9:05AM

11:37 AM

9:08AM

10:04 AM

1:58PM 1:59PM

2:13PM

1:12PM 1:13PM 1:13PM 1:15PM 1:20PM

2:13PM 2:15PM

10:05AM 10:05AM 10:10AM 1:20PM

9:35AM 11:08AM 11:32AM

11:47 AM 11:48AM 11:48AM

9:07AM 9:07AM 10:42AM

21/1/15Top Delhi state leaders Mahesh Giri, VijayGoel, Harshvardhan present in Kiran Bedi’sroad show before nomination; Bedi willkeep the education and home department 10:30 AM 10:31 AM 10:33AM 10:33AM 10:33AM

29VIEWS ON NEWS February 22 , 2015

NEWSDATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME

10:23AM 10:23AM 10:23AM 10:23AM10:23AM

25/1/15

25/1/15

25/1/15

25/1/15

27/1/15

27/1/15

27/1/15

28/1/15

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama reachIndia; Modi receives Obama with a warmhandshake and a hug; Obama to stay inITC Maurya, security strengthened

White House tweets Jai Hind afterObama lands in India

Barack Obama pays homage to MahatmaGandhi; plants tree

Obama reaches Hyderabad House, Modialso present, bilateral talks begin

Kiran Bedi sends legal notice to ArvindKejriwal for using her picture on AAPcampaign posters, on auto-rickshwas

Obama to leave for Saudi Arabia afterdelivering his speech at Siri Fort, broadcast of Modi-Obama joint Mann-ki-baat on AIR at 8pm

Obama begins his speech at Siri Fort witha Namaste in Hindi; says he loved the bikestunts at R-Day parade, Obama also saysthe famous Sinorita dialogue from DDLJ

Mary Kom meets PM Modi, invites him forAcademy's inauguration

11:31AM

12:55PM12:55PM 12:55PM

11:31AM 11:33AM

12:45PM 12:46PM 1:15PM 1:25PM 1:27PM

9:31AM 9:32AM 9:40AM 10:17AM

12:43PM12:43PM

12:29PM 12:38 PM

12:43PM 12:43PM 12:44PM

2:00PM 2:00PM 2:00PM 2:00PM 2:00PM


DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME

1:17PM 1:18PM 1:31PM

28/1/15

29/1/15

29/1/15

29/1/15

30/1/15

30/1/15

31/1/15

31/1/15

NEWS

Opposition parties might release a fakesting operation against AAP like last time,no one will believe is it: Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi election: EC gives clean chit toKiran Bedi in double voter ID cards issue

Sports ministry increases award money;Olympic champions will now get `75 lakh,silver medalists `50 lakh and bronze medalwinners `30 lakh

Delhi Police Commissioner Bassi: SunandaPushkar's Son Called for Questioning

Modi pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi onhis 67th death anniversary; Sonia Gandhiand Rahul Gandhi also reach Rajghat topay homage

Arun Jaitley on Jayanthi Natarajan:Green clearances given arbitrarily duringUPA, will review all clearances, will supervise the review myself

Agni 5, India's Longest Range BallisticMissile, successfully test-fired

Complaint lodged against Kumar Viswasfor making indecent remarks againstKiran Bedi, BJP will also lodge a com-plaint with the EC

12:12PM

12:37PM

1:13PM

10:40AM

9:21AM

1:07PM1:07PM1:07PM 1:10PM 1:22PM

9:21AM

10:40AM 10:41AM 10:42AM10:40AM

9:21AM 9:21AM 9:21AM

1:14PM 1:17PM

12:41PM 12:42PM

12:30PM 12:34PM12:29PM

12:44PM

10:01AM 10:10AM 10:50AM10:01AM


overnanceGCase Study

Ethical management

HEN Narendra Modi became

the chief minister of Gujarat in

2001, numerous delegations

met him. Employees of Bar-

oda’s Gujarat State Fertiliser

Corporation (GSFC) was one of them. The com-

pany was making losses, the workers feared for their

jobs and they beseeched Modi for the sake of their

families. Modi sought some time as he was new to

Wadministrative matters. His officials said the choice

was binary: loss-making state enterprises were

closed down or sold off. Modi decided on a third al-

ternative—that of reviving them.

GUTSY BUREAUCRATAlexander K Luke, a bureaucrat, was the official

chosen. He lived up to the trust. When he took over

in May 2003, GSFC was bleeding. Losses for the pre-

PLAYING IT STRAIGHTBusiness Standard descibed Alexander K Luke as a“turnaround man”


a 10-year loan. No worker was sacked.

Luke ascribes the turnaround to “ethical man-

agement” by which he means doing whatever is

good for an organization, regardless of personal

consequences. At GSFC, he claims, he braved the

displeasure of Chief Minister Modi by not agreeing

to contribute ̀ 10 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief

Fund, as it was beyond the company’s capacity (he

was vetoed by the other directors). While holding

additional charge of Gujarat Narmada Fertilisers, he

refused to implement a government order transfer-

ring the managing director of a subsidiary because

(a) transfers were his prerogative and (b) he felt the

executive deserved to be rewarded, not punished.

Upon assuming charge at GSFC, he renegotiated a

supply contract and got a giant petrochemicals

company (no prizes for guessing) to pay the market

price (almost double) and also cancelled a dealer-

ship that sat in between because it was not adding

vious financial year had piled up to ̀ 383 crore. The

stock price in the Bombay Stock Exchange was ̀ 17.

The company had sought legal protection from

creditors. The Reserve Bank had agreed to its bank

debt being restructured.

By the time Luke quit in November 2006,

GSFC’s stock price was `185. In between, it had

closed at a high of ̀ 243. It had not taken any money

from the government and had prematurely repaid

Being morally upright in a world of businessand political machinations is not for thefaint-hearted. Bureaucrat Alexander Luke,like many before him, learnt it the hard wayBY VIVIAN FERNANDES

WHENTOUGH MENDON’T LAST


value to the `50 lakh it was getting in commissions

annually. Cheekily, Luke says, the dealership be-

longed to a person whose name was similar to that

of a Gujarat minister who is related to the family

that owns the petrochemicals complex!

Luke has written a 1,70,000-word book on ethi-

cal management called, Passport of Gujarat: Haz-

ardous Journey. It is a 30-year personal excursion

through the innards of the government. The book

published by Delhi-based Manas Publications is due

for release in January. It can be more aptly titled,

“Why Government Sucks”.

As labour commissioner in 1990-91, Luke car-

ried on a rigorous drive

to enforce the Mini-

mum Wages Act. This

offended a well-known

garment exporter with

multiple factories in

India and also in Sri

Lanka and Egypt. For

his pains, Luke was

transferred to the cot-

tage industries depart-

ment, despite withering

comment in the media.

Harish Khare (who

later became Prime

Minister Manmohan

Singh’s media adviser)

named the industrialist

in his Times of India

report, says Luke.

Ela Bhatt, the founder

of Self-Employed

Women’s Association,

popularly known as

SEWA, interceded on his behalf with the chief min-

ister, to little avail.

SHAMELESS EMBEZZLEMENTAs cottage industries commissioner, Luke found his

officers indulging in brazen embezzlement. In

Saurashtra, they held a public event attended by

three ministers to celebrate the installation of 1,800

handlooms in the district— the year’s target for the

entire state. But an investigation revealed that all but

56 were fictitious. Of the 1,050 registered coopera-

tive societies which got grants and subsidies, 955

were found to be non-existent. That was in 1992.

When MLAs and other political heavyweights com-

plained that the investigation went against Dalit wel-

fare, the chief minister arranged a meeting. Luke

countered the charges with facts and figures. After

the meeting, the chief minister complimented

Luke. A week later, he was ordered out of the

department.

“I was a person of average intrinsic ability,”

says Luke on his website, www.ethicalmanage-

mentluke.com. “Ethically armed, I won luminous

victories.” Luke is being modest. He studied in IIT

Mumbai and was awarded the distinguished alum-

nus award in 2001 along with Congress leader and

minister, Jairam Ramesh.

For Luke, ethical management is not a call to

piety. He has no use for the honest leader who plays

safe. “Mine was not a moral crusade but a manage-

rial strategy,” he says about his stint in the labour de-

partment. It could not function effectively if officers

were venal. After regular field visits and relentless

exhortation, he saw a change of heart. The head of

the officers association even confessed to him that

many officers had decided to desist from corruption

till he was in charge. Perhaps, Luke was being flat-

tered. Perhaps, they had decided not to be brazen in

their self-aggrandizement.

An ethical manager is not a lone ranger. Luke

does not suffer the delusion that he is the solution.

There can be no success without everyone pitching

in. He recognizes competence in others, empowers

them to take decisions and assures them of his back-

“Public interest was the oracle I would turnfor seeking answers. There must be an objective good. Search for it continuouslyand you would know what to do.”

—Alexander Luke on what goads him to be ethical

AN ICON FOR INDIANS"Metro Man"

E Sreedharan is knownfor instilling ethical work

philosophy amongst DelhiMetro staff


Ethical management


ism. It is selfishness of a noble, creative kind. Luke

believes that altruism, like material possessions, sat-

isfies a psychic need. Honest achievement raises

self-worth just as worldly goods increase one’s

net worth. This is not a novel idea. In his December

1922 speech to the members of Poona (as it was

then called) District Law Library, BR Ambedkar

mentioned “public conscience” as one of the “con-

ditions precedent to the successful working of a

democracy”. By this he meant the “conscience that

becomes agitated at every wrong, no matter who is

the sufferer, and it means that everybody, whether

he suffers that particular wrong or not, is prepared

to join in order to get him relieved”.

Early in his career, Luke saw how the Mumbai

plant of the Gujarat’s fisheries department was made

to bleed and its 3,500 square yard plot sold in 1983

through a rigged auction for `9.5 lakh—about the

same price at which it was bought two decades ear-

lier. There are quite a few such instances.

Most of Luke’s postings ended in unpleasantness

for him. To not lose heart, Luke decided to work for

the “mythical citizen” who does not have any vested

interest and measures the success of officials by

ing. There could be no dithering; every

meeting had to yield a decision. At all

the struggling companies he headed,

emphasis was placed on sound man-

agement information. Daily produc-

tion, the total cost and item-wise

break-up, the sales inventory, the stock

of raw material, prices, sales realization,

the maintenance cost and such other

details were displayed for everyone to

see. Workers found this empowering.

They saw a causal link between their

efforts and the company’s perform-

ance. Even loaders gave preference to

trucks serving markets that yielded

higher profits.

HUMANE APPROACHEmpowerment does not mean being

ingratiating. At the height of labour un-

rest at one of the plants, Luke suspended a worker

for destroying the glass door of his office with a steel

pipe. Indiscipline is not tolerated. But the suspen-

sion was revoked after an apology. When workers

demand Diwali bonus which is beyond the com-

pany’s capacity to pay, he takes the union leader into

confidence and wins him over with his transparent

honesty. They settle for a much smaller amount.

Luke believes that the major problems of mod-

ern society are ethical, though they may appear in

other guises. Their solutions lie in ethics. India’s fis-

cal deficit can be plugged if money is spent on wel-

fare as intended; if project costs are not inflated and

money siphoned off; if taxes are paid honestly....

A few score “ethicals” can change India. Luke be-

lieves national resurgence is impossible without a

critical mass of ethical elite being on the vanguard.

These are pathfinders who are willing to fight for

public interest. They will be a fraction of the power

elite. A country’s greatness is determined by the

numbers willing to cross over. The ethical elite must

act as fifth columnists or Trojans for the sake of the

many who are not as fortunate, and become traitors

to their privileged class. This is not an act of hero-

UP AGAINST THE POWERFULAlexander Luke neverflinched to stand up tohis political bosses,including the then Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi


the extent to which they uphold public interest.

“This was the oracle I would turn to when I sought

answers. There must be an objective good. Search

for it continuously and you would know what to do,”

Luke tells himself.

COMPROMISED SYSTEMIn the end, Luke’s inability to kow-tow to the pow-

ers-that-be leads to his premature retirement. The

denouement happens at a review meeting of the

drip irrigation programme, entrusted to him by

Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Luke sets up the

Gujarat Green Revolution Company to persuade

farmers to do drip and sprinkler irrigation through

novel management practices. They pay half the

amount, while the rest is paid by the government.

But no cash changes hands. All payments are made

electronically so there is a paper trail. Suppliers

cannot scoot after selling equipment; they have

to market the concept and appoint agronomists

to hand-hold the farmers. A year later, Luke

expects praise from Chief Minister Modi; he is

criticized instead.

“I told him his assessment was wrong and the

scheme’s implementation was exemplary and

was being welcomed in the field. My daring to

do so resulted in a stunned reaction in the

room after which he (Modi) remained omi-

nously calm.” Luke asserts that the

players,bankers,drip equipment suppliers

and most important, farmers, were

happy with it. The mention of farmers infuriates the

ministers even more. “How could a civil servant,

and one who was not too civil, talk about the farm-

ers and what they felt? That only a politician could

do,” said Luke.

This is the nub of the problem. Luke believes

that a civil servant works for the interests of the peo-

ple or rather public interest, and he should directly

interact with the beneficiaries during the imple-

mentation of any scheme. But politicians consider

themselves to be the intermediaries. They tell the

civil servant what the people want and it is the

politician’s instructions that the civil servant should

follow. They want the civil servant to be not a ser-

vant of the people but an instrument in the hands

of the politician. “I rejected this assertion, particu-

larly looking at the calibre of our politicians. But it

is a fiction many civil servants maintain for their

own convenience. This is the conflict that is now

raging all over the country,” Luke says.

No one takes on the chief minister and survives.

Luke ascribes Modi’s spleen to the reasons men-

tioned at the beginning of the article. There is pro-

fessional jealousy as well; the chief secretary and

Luke did not get along. Luke is transferred as prin-

cipal secretary, posts and telegraphs. It is a promo-

tion but no sooner than he receives the order by fax,

Luke puts in his papers. The chief minister sum-

mons him later and persuades him to withdraw his

resignation. Luke insists that his transfer be re-

scinded. In the clash of two headstrong persons, one

had to give in. Luke buys a one-way ticket to Kerala

and flies out in the second week of November 2006,

two years before his retirement. He now lives as a

gentleman-farmer.

When Luke resigned, Business Standard de-

scribed him as a turnaround man. His ethical suc-

cess, Luke says, is a reproach to the many

professionals who have achieved it conventionally.

This is a book that some of the better-known

publishers should have accepted. Luke sent them

the manuscript, but they sat on it or turned it down.

Perhaps the title put them off. He should have dis-

guised it as a book on wellness.


ALWAYS IN LIMELIGHTLuke was awarded the

IIT alumnus award in2001, along withCongress leaderJairam Ramesh


Ethical management

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Interview

“EVERYONE ISPRO-MODI,

PRO-BJP TODAY”Controversial as this statement is, coming

from the new Censor Board chairman, PAHLAJ NIHALANI,

it has dangerous portents. He says in a few years, everybody will merge

with the BJP

Pahlaj Nihalani

overnanceG


office was that you were proud to be aBJP man. If I like something, why should I hide it?

Do you believe your strong politicalleanings could affect the fair dischargeof your duties? Everybody knows I am impartial. I am sincere in

my work. I believe in transparency. I don’t care what

other people think about me.

However, a majority of the nine-memberCensor Board appointed recently seem tobe BJP sympathizers. Vani Tripathi is amember of the BJP. Don’t you see any-

PAHLAJ NIHALANI always knew that he wanted to be in the film business. He wanted to buy therunaway hit of 1966, “Phool Aur Patthar”, at the age of 14. He couldn’t buy it due to family

pressure, but the success of the film at the box office gave him confidence in his judgment. Soon,he got into film production. However, it was in 2014 that he made news with his pre-election

video,“Har Ghar Modi”, an ode to BJP’s PM candidate, Narendra Modi. He’s back in the news asthe new chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in the wake of the

controversial exit of his predecessor, Leela Samson. SOMI DAS talks to him about his love forModi, dealing with right-wing protests, nudity and tackling the issue of religion in films.

Did you know you would be chosen forthis post? It was a surprise for me. I came to know of it

through the media. Later, the board officially called

me and confirmed the news.

The decision must have been madequickly as the entire Censor Board hadresigned? No, its term had expired and they were on extension.

Tell us about your work before you became Censor chief?By the age of 25, I was already in the business of film

buying. I came into film production at the age of 29.

But I have always been involved in social work and

worked for the government whenever needed. I

have raised funds for it during calamities. I have

done charity work for former Gujarat chief minister,

Chimanbhai Patel, and did a charity show, “Star

Nights”, in Gujarat. I also did fund-raising during

the Bhuj earthquake. I contributed ̀ 4.5 crore to Vi-

lasrao Deshmukh’s CM’s Relief Fund for the quake.

I have worked for the Jyoti Basu government. I do

not have any political biases. I am a man for the peo-

ple. I gave `1 crore to Atal Bihari Vajpayee for

Odisha. I have done charity shows in Delhi during

Indira Gandhi’s tenure also.

You say you have no political biases, butyour first statement on assuming this

CHANTING MODI’SNAMENihalani’s pre-electionmusic video, Har gharModi was an ode to theBJP PM candidate


Shouldn’t the film frater-

nity have some protection

from right-wing threats

due to the huge invest-

ment involved? It is not in my jurisdiction to

protect someone’s investment.

Everyone should be responsible

for themselves. Filmmakers

must know what they are giving

to the people. One should not

show vulgarity to the younger

generation. One should follow the guidelines of the

Censor Board and there will be no problem in re-

leasing a film at all. There is no question of bias.

Religion is a touchy issue in India. Howdo you plan to deal with it in films? We have to make sure that the sentiments of no

community are hurt. There should be members

from different sections of society on the jury which

judges the content in films. I am the chairperson. I

am not going to watch each and every film. So it is

very necessary to have the right people on the

panel.

You have been emphasizing the impor-

tance of “clean and healthy entertain-ment”. What is your definition of that? There are many examples of clean and healthy en-

tertainment. Basu Chatterjee and Rishi da

(Hrishikesh Mukherjee) have always given clean

movies. Even masala films like Krishh and Koi Mil

Gaya qualify as clean movies.

Even your films like Aankhen and Sholaaur Shabnam?

thing wrong in this? Has the UPA government ever appointed any BJP

member on the board? And everyone is pro-Modi

and pro-BJP today. Even members of the Congress

are merging into the BJP. In a few years, with Modi’s

work, everybody will merge with the BJP. Every re-

gional party is merging with the BJP. Everybody be-

lieves in the vision of Modi.

Would you pass a film that is critical ofthe government or the PM? I will never allow any film that will damage harmony

in the country. I am not concerned about whether a

film is critical of the government or not. If the

content is good and clean, there is nothing that can

stop its release. But I will not allow anyone to cross

the barrier.

Even if you cut out nudity from films,everything is available on television and

most importantly, on the net….It is amoney-minting machine. It’s affecting ourpeople. Laws are required to keep a check.

CLEAN ENTERTAINMNETNihalani says his flilms likeAankhen and Shola aurShabnam not only providedhealthy entertainment butalso set a trend in thecomedy-action genre

InterviewPahlaj Nihalani

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The government has to do something about it. Even

if you cut out nudity from films, everything is avail-

able on television and most importantly, on the net.

If you have a phone, you will have access to such

material easily. People are watching it openly. Chil-

dren are watching such videos on YouTube. An ac-

tress from the porn industry has become a part of

the film industry. She is popular because her site is

popular. Then how do you control nudity? It is a

money-minting machine. It’s affecting our people.

Laws are required to keep a check on access to these

sites.

Let’s talk about political pressure on theCensor Board to release the film, MSG.Was Leela Samson wrong when shespoke about political pressure? I think, jate jate kuch kar jana tha, woh karke gayi

(She had to do something before leaving, so she cre-

ated a controversy). Why talk about it?

Should MSG have been released giventhere were criminal cases againstGurmeet Ram Rahim, who plays a

Yes. They were clean and entertaining. Aankhen and

Shola aur Shabnam worked as comedy and action

films and set a trend. Even a film like Padosan didn’t

work that time. But today, it is being copied. How

you present a movie matters the most.

By that standard, a film like Gangs ofWasseypur would be rather violent. Would

its fate be any different if you were at the

helm of affairs then? I can’t talk about a particular film that was cleared by

the previous board. I have also not seen the movie.

But I must say that media makes heroes out of some

people. Media thinks these people are making real

cinema. All people in UP and MP are not like what

the film has portrayed them to be. The film medium

is a very strong one. We have to see what message it

conveys. What are you saying through the film? That

our Indian culture is like that? That people of Bihar

and UP are rough?

We send our movies for the international audi-

ence also. If we are showing our people in a bad light,

what is the message we are sending to them? Then

why did Indian producers criticize Slumdog Million-

aire for projecting India as a poor country? When we

are criticizing foreign filmmakers for projecting

India in bad light, what right do we have to show our

country in a bad light? The guidelines for making

cuts in films are there for you to see.

So, are films not being cleared accordingto Censor Board guidelines?No, the guidelines were not being followed.

Are we going to see some drastic changesin the way films are certified?

No, there will be nothing drastic. I will follow the

guidelines. Nothing else. Neither am I going to harm

nor give relief to anyone.

You have also spoken about censoring nu-

dity in cinema and on television also.How will you do that?

COMRADES-IN-ARMSNihalani with expelledBJP leader Ram Jethmalani(Right) and actor and BJPleader ShatrughanSinha


controversial films. What do you think

about controversies surrounding them? As a filmmaker, I believe that viewers are the best

judge. If a film does well at the box office, that

shows viewers have liked the film.

If people are the best judge, why have a

Censor Board? People can see a film only after the Censor Board

sees that it is clean and clears it.

Which is the first film you have cleared?Shamitabh.

Did you like the film?I can’t say anything about the film. There was

nothing wrong with it.

Are you producing any film? Yes, Bol India Bol. It’s on today’s students and

how they become victims of the drug mafia.

The film will star Govinda, Sunny Deol and Sha-

trughan Sinha.

Let’s talk about your love for Modi. Howdid you conceive the video, “Har gharModi”? Modi had already proved his strength and leader-

ship in Gujarat. After Nehru, Indira Gandhi and

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, we have got another strong

leader in Modi. I believed in Modi’s leadership and

I wanted others to see it. It was a personal initiative.

There was no contribution from anyone. A Delhi

girl, Heena Khan, wrote the song for the video fol-

lowing my vision. The catch line, Har Ghar Modi,

was given by me.

Why do you call him an action hero? Because he is a man of action. He is delivering what

he is promising.

One last question. Are you Govind Niha-

lani’s brother? (laughs) No. We are good friends.

messenger of God in this film? That’s not the point. That is not under my jurisdic-

tion. The picture was cleared by the Film Certifica-

tion Appellate Tribunal. And the Censor Board can’t

go against the Tribunal.

But isn’t it very unusual for the Tribunalto clear a film rejected by the CensorBoard? Is there any precedence to this? I don’t know. But there are many options open to a

filmmaker. The first stage in getting a film cleared is

the Censor Board. After that, the film goes for revi-

sion and re-revision. If not cleared, the film is re-

ferred to the tribunal. If the tribunal also doesn’t okay

the film, he can go to the courts. Many a time, a film

has been cleared after court orders.

Have you watched PK and Haider?No, I have not seen these as yet.

You seem to have missed seeing these

What is the message of Gangs of Wasseypur? That people in Bihar and MP

are rough? We send our movies for the international audience also.

Is this Indian culture?

InterviewPahlaj Nihalani

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overnanceGSpotlight

Coverage of Terror Attacks

Even six yearslater, there areno guidelinesfor journaliststo observeduring a terror strikeBY AKASH BANERJEE

SHOULDGOVERNMENT

CONTROL

t has been said that journalists are terrorists’ best friends,

because they are willing to give terrorist operations max-

imum exposure. This is not to say that journalists as a

group are sympathetic to terrorists, although it may ap-

pear so. It simply means that violence is news, whereas

peace and harmony are not. The terrorists need the

media, and the media find in terrorism all the ingredients of an exciting

story.”—Terrorism expert Walter Laqueur in his book, The New

Terrorism (1999).

Laqueur first suggested the symbiotic relationship shared between jour-

nalists and terrorists in the 1970s while studying how the American media

covered hostage and terror situations. Today, his observations ring true as

terrorist groups become adept at using various forms of media to gain max-

imum traction during an attack.

There is, however, one vital change. Though journalists and news or-

ganizations have been willing or unwilling conduits of terror news all

these years, that system is crumbling now. With terrifying speed, the

IREPORTING?


Smoke and fire billow out of Taj Hotel in Mumbai as elite commandos fought room to room battleswith militants to save people trapped there during the 26/11 terror attack


Lecture recently, I&B Minister Arun Jaitley indi-

cated that “strict” norms would be put in place soon

to regulate broadcast during a terror attack and to

prevent a Mumbai-like situation where terrorists

gained vantage from information provided on news

channels. “Our security agencies and the ministry

of defense are of the view that this cannot be al-

lowed. And, therefore, during the limited duration

when the security operation is on, a very strict dis-

cipline on the kind of reporting which is to take

place from the place of the incident will have to be

maintained,” Jaitley said.

Jaitley’s comment is of particular interest in the

light of the badgering that the media received for

its coverage of 26/11. The minister admits that even

six years later, there are no guidelines for the media

to observe during a terror attack.

During the Mumbai siege, while the record of

merchants of death are discovering they can connect

directly to millions of people and spread their mes-

sage of panic and hate though social media tools like

Facebook and Twitter. The Westgate Mall attack in

Nairobi demonstrated this with chilling accuracy.

Even though the media was restrained from beam-

ing live images, the theater quickly shifted online

with the Al-Shabab terror group launching its own

(mis)information campaign through social

media sites.

The terrorist of tomorrow will be as adept at

Twitter as with AK-47s. This is a worrying scenario

for India where after six years and a change of gov-

ernment, we are still trying to figure out how to han-

dle news media during a 26/11 like situation—an

online counter-offensive by the authorities is a pipe

dream at best.

While speaking at the Justice JS Verma Memorial

IN THE HOT SEATMedia reporting

during the26/11 attack

overnanceGSpotlight



precincts of the Taj hotel? Media teams are denied

access to even a basic scene of crime. What pre-

vented a commonsensical step from being taken?

� The I&B ministry could have imposed a news

blackout. Why didn’t it do so?

� Instead of presenting a single stream of infor-

mation, various branches of the government spoke

in different voices. The security forces too jumped

into the melee.Through the entire incident, the

media worked with meager resources and informa-

tion and never broke any government directive. Ex-

pecting a hundred journalists during the biggest

terror attack of our times to “restrain themselves”

was impractical. Calls were being made by the

minute and yet no one had a clue about the overall

picture. “The (media) beast has to be constantly fed.

The information flow from government sources

was terrible,” said Rajdeep Sardesai, (then edi-

The mediaworked withmeagerresources.Expectingthe 100 or sojournalists torestrainthemselveswas reallynot practical.

the media was far from exemplary, the govern-

ment’s actions (or the lack of it) seem to have been

glossed over. What’s widely reported is the story of

how the government ignored intelligence reports

about an impending attack; the infighting within

the Mumbai police and lack of coordination and

planning that resulted in four young fidayeen hold-

ing out against our best and brightest for days on

end. What isn’t talked about is how the govern-

ment’s handling of media and information was even

more disastrous. Let’s take a look:

� Within hours of the attack, it was clear to the

intelligence agencies that terrorists were being

guided by their handlers via sat phones that in-

cluded a running commentary on what was hap-

pening outside via news channels.

� What prevented the authorities from ordering

a full evacuation of media persons from the


rators across the border on TV screens and being

communicated to the terrorists. The goriest details

were shown live on Indian TV from beginning to

end, almost non-stop.”

Ironically, the court didn’t question why the

government allowed media so close to the action

scene. Perhaps another inquiry needs to be done to

understand the pressing need to allow thousands

of Mumbaikars to mill around the Taj even as the

encounter was on. The media was reporting from

behind a cordon drawn by the police—an area that

was accessible to the general public as much as the

media. The media never had any special access.

What if one of the terrorists decided to spray the

promenade outside the Taj with an AK or lob

a grenade?

While it’s no secret that the government failed

before and during 26/11, it’s worrying that tomor-

row when terrorists mount an offensive with bullets

—we will fail even more spectacularly.

Terrorists think and plan way ahead. The Al-

Shabaab terrorist group went online during their

attack at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall. While the televi-

sion media was kept out of direct visual contact of

tor-in-chief of CNN-IBN) to the Christian Science

Monitor later. What Sardesai didn’t mention was that

there was unprecedented viewer interest in what was

going on, people clung to their TV sets for days to

see the events unfold.

The Supreme Court didn’t see it that way; it

held back no punches when it observed, that

channels “have served no national interest or

any social cause. Reckless coverage gave rise

to a situation where...the terrorists were

completely hidden from the secu-

rity forces. All operational

movements were being

watched by the collabo-

“During the limited duration when the security operation is on, a very strict

discipline on the kind of reporting which isto take place from the site will have

to be maintained.”— I&B Minister Arun Jaitley

overnanceGSpotlight



�Set up a security ring around the area, and give directions tothe media. There is no reason why the media will not holdback. (This protocol is still not followed as the recent livebroadcast of a counter-insurgency operation in J&K’s Uri sec-tor demonstrated). �Regular, authentic, verified, non-compromising media up-dates, on an hourly basis. (The government tends to go into ashell during a crisis. In the information age, this is counter-productive). �Social media cells to monitor traffic and information beingposted online by media houses and terror groups to preventany misinformation campaign. �Clear and direct lines of communication with prominentmedia houses to ensure that strategic information is put out ina synergized manner. � Hold periodic seminars with editors, journalists and policeofficers on how the media plays out coverage of a terrorist at-tack and where the intervention points could be.

WHAT GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO DOIN A TERROR ATTACK

the mall – the government failed to provide critical

updates to the media on the operations to end the

crisis. This gap was exploited by the terror group to

float its own version of the attack. Morphed photos

posted by the group were picked up by mainstream

publications, creating panic. Clearly, the terrorists

outfoxed the government in the information game

and prolonged the crisis by a huge margin.

We shouldn’t be surprised if the next wave of ter-

ror attacks has live tweets coming from inside to am-

plify the shock effect of the act. Is the Indian

government equipped to handle such a situation,

technically or strategically?

While we grapple with TV broadcast, the speed

at which social media works, the difficulty in block-

ing it and its global consumption pattern present a

unique challenge for security forces during future

terror attacks.

How will the government machinery put out

faster, more credible information, than terror

groups? How will the authorities beat the opponents

in the information game? To begin with, the govern-

ment needs to understand the media in a new light;

for now, it’s an irritant, that needs to be tolerated in

the name of freedom of press and democracy. Dur-

ing a terror attack the media will have to be an ally

of the government, helping it to disseminate infor-

mation on a minute-to-minute basis.

Terrorists have to be denied success. The way to

do that would be to steal the terrorists’ best friend

– the media.

The 26/11 attack was the first of its kind for the

government and the media. Mistakes were made

on both sides and terrorists took advantage of that,

but to defeat them in future, the government

will have to act WITH the media, not against it.

— Akash Banerjee is a broadcast professional and author of‘“Tales from Shining and Sinking India”

With terrifying speed, the merchants ofdeath are discovering they can connect directly with millions of people and spreadtheir message of hate though social mediatools like Facebook and Twitter.

SIEGE OF TERROR(Above) A womanclimbs down to safety

(Facing page)Terrorists look out fortheir target during the26/11 attack


After tweeting that Katrina Kaif beconsidered for the post of presi-dent of the country (he later

tweeted that he was joking), JusticeMarkandey Katju was at it again. Hetweeted that if Shazia Ilmi was madechief ministerial candidate, the BJPwould definitely win the Delhi poll battle,as people vote for beautiful faces. “I re-gard Shazia Ilmi much more beautifulthan Kiran Bedi. If Shazia had beenmade their CM candidate BJP wud havedefinitely won DelhI,” he tweeted. Doesthis come under freedom of expression?

Beautiful Ilmi

Despite bad weather and coldwinds, lunch bashes by minis-ters are going on as usual for

journos in Delhi. One such bash washosted by HRD Minister Smriti Irani ather new Tughlak Crescent bungalow.Amidst good food, a classy ambience,laughter, bonhomie and selfies, thehappy Irani family was introduced toall the bureaucrats and media person-nel present. Many wondered if all thiswould help the party for the comingDelhi elections.

Union minister for health and familywelfare, JP Nadda, has not been ableto find much time for his ministry.

First, he was made in-charge of the party’scampaign in J&K elections, then, he gotbusy with the elections in Delhi. Juggling somany responsibilities has become a bigproblem for Nadda. Even serious concernslike the H1N1 scare have been put under thecare of the ministry’s bureaucrats.

TimeManagement

On a cold, rainy day, during thegrueling campaign for the elec-tions in Delhi, the minister of sci-

ence and technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan,offered tea to his party workers alongwith Marie biscuits, saying they werehealthy and low in calories; excess calo-ries would hamper their energy levels,he said. In stark contrast, journalists onthe beat were offered gulab jamuns andsamosas, prompting many hacks towonder why the minister would wantsluggish journos on the trail.

RefreshmentBreak

After the Haryana government’sdecision to bringdown the retire-

ment age of its officers to58, babus of the centralgovernment are panic-stricken. The wordgoing around in thebhavans of the capital isthat the central govern-ment too migh followHaryana’s exampleafter the elections inDelhi are over. Top-rung bureaucrats are aworried lot these days!

Retirement woesLunch Diplomacy

All That MattersGrapevine

Illustrations: UdayShankar

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—Compiled by Roshni


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RNI No. UPBIL/2007/22571 Postal Regd. No. UP/GBD-204/2015-17

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