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The mark of a journalist

Nikhil Chakravartty was everything a journalist should be – ethical, simple and scholarly. They don’t make journalists like him anymore.
by Humra Quraishi

This year, on November 3, noted journalist Nikhil Chakravartty would have turned 100. On the occasion of his birth centenary, there were several people from the fraternity and outside it, who got together in New Delhi for a two-day international conference organised by the Editors Guild of India, India International Centre, Nikhil Chakravartty Foundation and the Centre for Media Studies (School of Social Sciences, JNU).

I loved what Bangladesh’s former Foreign Minister, Dr Kamal Hossain said. “As we look forward to a common future for South Asia, we should begin to identify basic common objectives. Clearly, the first on the list must be peace and stability in our region in interests of the poor and the deprived in each of our societies. Development, in this context, must mean sustainable human development that must be sensitive to environment and social concerns. A sound test of a people-centred development is how it improves the conditions of the bottom 50 per cent of our populations?” he said.

birth centenaryI first met Nikhilda in the spring of 1987. He was then the Chairman of NAMEDIA, editor of the weekly Mainstream, and his column in the Sunday Observer was said to be the ‘pulse of the country’s political scenario’. He used to stay in New Delhi’s Kaka Nagar, a typical government colony, but his ‘D11’ type apartment stood out from the rest with its post office-red gate. I was so impressed by the colour that the very next day I went out and bought the same paint and painted all the doors and windows of my house with it!

There was something about his personality, too, that stood out as much as the red gate of his home. Forthright and bold, he never looked hassled or angry, and was one of those few journalists who spoke and wrote fearlessly against the political establishment and the mess in society. He was one of those veterans in the field who believed in delving right into the causes of issues, fishing out the details.

I asked him, “How do you travel for work?” He replied, “Well, I catch a bus. I have no reservations about that. And I prefer to travel alone. For my profession, travelling is a must, as I want to see for myself the situations and ground realities as they unfold, whether here or in Iran, Poland or in Afghanistan. You have to travel and meet the masses.”

I mused on that for a while, then said, “What would you say about the hypocrisy in society, affecting our attitudes towards women?”

He said, “It is a complex situation. Our society is one of extremes – either we are totally withdrawn [from issues] or we are head over heels in love. The balance is missing. It is deep rooted because of our social background, which is a mix of feudalism and modernisation. But someday, we will be able to get out of this. Take the example of China, where women were oppressed, but Mao’s revolution changed the whole nation.”

I asked him his opinion on modern India. This is what he said, “In modern India, society has less taboos and individual freedom is encouraged. But do let me add, with emphasis, that with all our modern living, a great amount of insensitivity has crept in. Norms have been shattered. There is no ‘Indianness’ left, the only views thriving belong to the RSS and Arun Shourie. We have not developed culturally, and that’s the root cause of our decay.”

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.outlookindia.com, wearethebest.wordpress.com)

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‘I wish I’d written more against Right-wing fascists…’

Writer and former journalist Khushwant Singh talks about his newest book and the one regret of his long writing life.
by Humra Quraishi

Khushwant Singh has always been a writer for all seasons. His acerbic wit and sometimes, hilariously accurate descriptions of the country’s people, its politics and overall persona have been both the subject of several important pieces of writings and books, and touchpoints for debate on the current state of affairs in India.

Singh is now close to 99 years old, but he is nowhere done. He recently released his latest book, The Good, The Bad And The Ridiculous (Rupa Publications), a collection of 35 of India’s most interesting personalities.

khushwant singh The book starts with this introduction: “I have never been a very tactful person. I have never been discreet either. I am a voyeur and a gossip. I am also very opinionated. These are good qualities to have if your aim is to be a writer who is read. I have met a good number of this subcontinent’s most famous (or infamous) and interesting people. I have also suffered famous bores, and sometimes been rewarded with behaviour so ridiculous that it becomes compelling…”

In these 35 profiles, as in all his writings, there is a mix of the absolutely serious with stuff that would make you laugh out loud. He still remembers the blackheads on the tip of Amrita Sher Gil’s nose, and he still remembers Begum Para from Dilip Kumar’s erstwhile clan (and other ‘loud’ remembrances of her), and he can still recount all those  moves that made model-dancer Protima Bedi one of the movers and shakers of the day.

He writes on dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi, and how her life wasn’t just a blur of knives and guns but he presents actual back stories that help the reader understand how Phoolan became a dacoit. In all the profiles, I noticed that the journalist in him has got to the very root of each of the characters he has written about. It is this journalistic training that prompts him to examine why Balwant Gargi committed adultery so blatantly.

Why is this book important? Khushwant is perhaps the only surviving journalist-writer of this subcontinent who has seen history in the making over almost 100 years now. He was born in Undivided Punjab in 1915 in the village Hadali, which is now in Pakistan. He has witnessed the Partition and the subsequent aftermath. He has seen the major turning points in the country’s past and recent history.

His long association, both personal and professional, with the country’s history comes out through his detailed chronicles of the long list of personalities he has chronicled. When I ask him about the book, his replies are as blunt as always. “I regret one thing. I wish I’d written much more against the fundoos…the Right-wing fascists who are hell bent on causing divisions [in society]. These fundoos are a serious threat. I could have written much more against their fascist and divisive policies. In recent times, I have been writing against Narendra Modi, LK Advani because of the communal poisoning they have unleashed in the country.”

He elaborates on Advani thus: “I shun people who are at the forefront of communalism, and this includes the likes of LK Advani. He has done grievous harm to our efforts to create a truly secular India. I have no regret over his discomfiture and eventual fadeout from national politics – it will be as comic a tragedy as any we have witnessed in recent times.”

(Pictures courtesy www.thehindu.com, www.siliconindia.com)

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Of old-fashioned remedies and exploring nature

We have turned our backs on the natural medicines our country offers us, putting our faith in expensive, chemical cures.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

For the last two days, I have been plucking and piling up leaves. My nephew has been down with dengue and the only natural cure for it is papaya leaves, or rather the papaya pulp and juice. Also, with my diabetes playing hide-and-seek with me, I was told that the only way out was to chew guava leaves.

I went to the nearest nursery but it was too fashionable to stock our ‘outdated’ amrood plants. The jeans-clad maali rattled off the names of some japani-chini-vilayati imported plants that the nursery had, so I had to take my leave. But not one to give up, I went to a far-away orchard full of guava trees and plucked some off the trees. Since then, I have been chewing on them like a goat. With my usual dal roti, these leaves are becoming a staple part of my diet.

There are so many benefits to be explored from nature’s bounty, but we often overlook them. My doctor, Dr GP Sharma, has been insisting for so long, “You are fortunate that that younatural medicines are a diabetic in India, for there are so many natural remedies available – jamun, neem, cinnamon, karela, bhindi, several herbs and seeds, so many trees and shrubs. All of these are natural ways to combat high blood sugar levels.”

But to recap from diabetes to dengue, it is now becoming obvious that dengue is fast becoming something to fear. It is virulent and severe, with mosquitoes thriving (or should I say, allowed to thrive) by the municipal authorities, who are unable to clear up the mess even around our health centres. If this state of affair continues, we may have to trash the oft-quoted ‘A for apple, B for ball…’ for a newer version of the alphabet that our future generations can easily relate to. We might have to teach them, ‘M for mosquito, D for dengue, C for corruption, K for killer…’

And while we have been paying little heed to nature and whatever it can do for, nature seems to be getting back at mankind, too. First the havoc at Uttarakhand, now along our country’s coastline. And even in the midst of the chaos, we see, perhaps only in our country, that in the midst of the stampede, those stranded devotees are not rescued but thrown into rivers and nullahs! This happened this week in Madhya Pradesh, when hapless devotees were flung into nullahs and rivers by dreaded Chambal dacoits by MP cops.

And even as we grapple with everyday worries – inflation, infectious diseases, cyclones, corruption – the election fever slowly catches on and makes fools of us all in several different ways. But that’s a column for another time.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.nytimes.com, www.hemroidharry.com)

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The USA’s problem, in Chomsky’s words

Humra Quraishi recalls an old meeting with Noam Chomsky, especially since most of his words then are coming true now.

Total anarchy seems to be the order of the day. It’s happening in the Middle East, it’s happening in the African belt and to an extent, in our subcontinent.

The more I ponder over the situation, the more I recall a 2001 meeting with Noam Chomsky in New Delhi, when he’d given forewarnings of the shape of things to come. During the interview, he had repeatedly stressed that more disasters were waiting to hit as countries like the USA continuing with their expansionist policies.

arms raceHe’d said, “The threat of terrorism is not the only abyss into which we peer…an even greater threat is posed by the very expansion of the arms race. The arms race is inappropriate, because the USA is, for now, competing alone. Its goal is to achieve ‘full spectrum dominance’. These plans have been available in Government documents for some time and their plans are being developed.

“These plans were expanded in the first months of the Bush administration and again after September 11, in a crude exploitation of the fear and horror engendered by these horrific crimes. It is conventional everywhere for attack to be called ‘defence’ and this case is no exception. The plans for militarisation of space are disguised as ‘Ballistic Missile Defence’ (BMD), and even if technically feasible, must rely on satellite communication and destroying satellites is easier than shooting down missiles. This is one reason why the USA must seek ‘full spectrum dominance’.

“Such overwhelming control of space that even the poor man’s weapons will not be available to an adversary. The goals of space militarisation extend far beyond than this. It’s the Clinton era publications that announce the primary goal prominently: ‘Dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect US interests and investment.’ Armies were needed ‘during the westward expansion of continental United States.’ Of course, in self defence against the indigenous population!”

He added, “In the Reagan years alone, US-sponsored State terrorists in Central America had left hundreds of thousands tortured and mutilated corpses, millions maimed and orphaned and four countries in ruins…In the same years, West-backed South African depredations had killed 1.5 million people. I need not speak of West Asia or much else. All of this, however, is barred from the annals of terrorism by a simple device: the term terrorism, like most terms of political discourse, has two meanings; a literal one and a propagandist one.

“The literal one can be found in the official US documents, which instructs that ‘Terrorism is the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious or ideological in nature (carried out) through intimidation, coercion or by instilling fear.’ But the literal definition cannot be used, because it is close paraphrase of the official policy called ‘low intensity war’ or ‘counter terrorism’.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.al-monitor.com)

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Enough said

Revisiting Gandhi’s present-day legacy

Would our politics be any different if Mahatma Gandhi’s grandchildren had joined active politics? Or would things continue as before?
by Humra Quraishi

As I write this column a little after Gandhi jayanti this year, I have been recollecting several things about the Mahatma. The very crux of his philosophy was simplicity laced with truth. Nothing complicated or layered, just a subtle and direct way of communicating. Probably this is why we can so easily relate to the great man even today.

gopalkrishna gandhiEvery time I meet any of his four grandchildren, children of his son Devdas Gandhi, I get the sense the same sense of uncomplicated communication. Each time I’ve interviewed Ramchandra Gandhi, Rajmohan Gandhi, Gopalkrishna Gandhi (in pic on left) and Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, I’ve always got a sense of ‘genuineness’ in their words and views. Even when I visited Tara and Rajmohan’s homes, I was struck by the simplicity. In fact, the late Ramchandra Gandhi had never even owned a home and lived all his life in a rented annexe in very tight financial conditions.

When I first visited Tara (in pic below) at her South Delhi home, I could see it was a very ‘different’ space. Huge hand-made dolls stood in the house, as did charkhas and khadi weaves. When I asked her about her grandfather, she’d said, “Bapu kept a very tight schedule so we couldn’t interact for hours at a stretch, though I’d spent most of my childhood with him and Ba. He spoke on ‘mulya’(values), taught us to value time, to focus on ‘buniyadi usul’(fundamental values). I never saw him angry or cranky. But very often he’d looked sad. In fact, whenever he was upset he’d stop talking and fast or tara gandhi bhattacharjeekeep a maun or roza and stop eating. When upset, he would sit at the charkha spinning for hours at a stretch.”

Rajmohan described his relationship with Gandhiji thus: “As his grandchildren, we didn’t have any special rights to his time. He belonged to the entire nation. At that time, I was a child so I couldn’t understand it, but I later realised that the family had to pay a heavy price to achieve freedom. Looking back, I think even then I had some inkling of why we, his grandchildren, couldn’t spend much time with him.

rajmohan gandhiHe recounted the values he inherited from his grandfather and father, “My father Devdas Gandhi brought us up on the same values – that money making was not to be the purpose of life, that service was to be part of life and that any service ought to be totally unconnected with personal advancement. He always stood for freedom of the Press and told us how important it was for the Press to be free.”

There is much to share on the subject of Bapu and the many anecdotes of his life and times, but I have to share this one thought: I wish Gandhi’s grandchildren had joined active politics. Who knows, the situation in the country could have been somewhat better with their presence? Rajmohan (in pic above), who had joined the Janata Dal briefly before leaving the party and politics after huge disillusionment, said, “Today, political parties have hardened their stance on questions of caste and religion. My inability to do that prevents me from finding a strong voice in any political party. As far as the Congress is concerned, the refusal of the party to fight out corruption keeps me away from it.

“The BJP is out of the question because of its ideology. I am too old to start a new party of movement. I would have done it years back but not now…today I find my skull too  fragile!”

Humra Quraishi is a senior journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.thehindu.com, www.zimbio.com, www.theguardian.com, www.hss.iitm.ac.in)

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Cinema@100

‘My son will never be the same again…’

An old interview with Sunil Dutt sheds light on his agony over his son’s arrest and the ‘desh drohi’ tag.
by Humra Quraishi

Sanjay Dutt is home on furlough from his two-year stint in jail in the 1993 Bombay blasts case. As I read the news, I reflected on an interview I had done with his father, the late actor and MP Sunil Dutt, who had spoken in heartbroken detail about his son’s arrest and how his entire family was branded as ‘anti-national’.

Sunil DuttIt wasn’t easy getting him for an interview. I caught up with him in Delhi after he had joined the Congress party. I took an appointment and reached his official bungalow at Safdarjung Lane; the interview time was set after several weeks of calling his office. He would be busy on the weekdays and travel to Bombay on the weekends.

I sat in a bare drawing room whose only adornment was a series of framed photographs on the wall, 33 of them, to be exact. There were pictures of Sunil Dutt with Nargis, with his children and grandchildren, with the three generations of the Gandhis, with Mother Teresa, with President Ronald Reagan, with Jimmy Carter, with jawans at the border, and of Nargis receiving awards at various functions.

Dutt sahib turned up after an hour, and so did Raj Babbar, who tried to muscle in on the interview by quipping about this and that periodically. Finally, after several hints had been dropped, he took his leave and I could speak to Sunil Dutt at length.

Excerpts from the interview:

Have you recovered from the trauma of your son Sanjay being imprisoned for 19 days under TADA?

It’s been extremely shocking for us and I don’t think we’ll ever recover from it. At times I keep thinking that this is what we have got in return for all that we did for the country. You go punishing a person who is yet to be proved guilty and whose family did everything for the Motherland.

Why do you think that TADA charges were slapped on Sanjay, though your lawyers said it was an arms offence case?Sanjay Dutt

I shouldn’t say anything about this, at this stage for the case is going on at the Bombay High Court. Also, anything I say can be played up by some vested interests.

God forbid, if rioting happens in Mumbai again, would you play an active role in relief efforts? (He had earlier been accused of minority appeasement)

Of course, I would.

And your son?

My son has changed after all this…I think he will never be the same ever again. During these riots, he’d really worked hard trying to provide every possible assistance to the riot victims, but now he says to me, “Papa, I will never do any social work.” See how sad it is…

It has been proved that he had an unlicensed gun with him. Why did he keep it? Why did he try to dump it so mysteriously?

Again I will not comment on this as the matter is subjudice. I am of the belief that if he has committted a mistake, then the law should take its own course. But don’t come up with filthy allegations against us. Don’t call us ‘Pakistani agents’ or ‘desh drohis’.

How did it feel to be labelled like this?

(eyes moistening) You can imagine how I felt. Wherever I would go, even the peons at the lawyers’ chambers said to my face, “Desh drohi aa raha hai (The traitor is coming).” Once my daughters went out shopping and told me that the moment they stepped into a shop, there was a minute’s silence and then the rest of the shoppers starting filing out of the shop.

Sunil, Sanjay, NargisEven my dead wife was dragged into all this. I heard people say that Sanjay’s mother was a Muslim. I replied that you could slam Sanjay and me as much as you wanted, but at least spare the dead. Or at least remember Nargis for the work she did for spastic people, for the blind. She never worked on religious grounds. At least look at what we’ve done for the country. During the two Wars, we went to the border areas to meet the jawans and in those days, in 1962, even when we were financially hard up, I donated one lakh rupees for the PM’s relief fund. I am ready to do anything for the country.

Whom did you approach for help when your son was arrested?

Everybody possible.

Yet it took him 19 days to be released.

Yes.

Which friends stood by you in that crisis?

Foremost, the people of my country. And certain individuals from the Congress, the BJP and from the film industry. From the Congress, it was VC Shukla, Rajesh Pilot, Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh and Jagdish Tytler. From the BJP, it was Shatrughan Sinha and Jaswant Singh. From the Janata Party it was Sharad  Yadav. From the film industry, it was Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Pran saab.

What about the rest of the film industry?

The rest labelled Sanju guilty even before the courts could do so.

Suppose you were not an MP and not so well-connected. Do you think it would be tougher for you and Sanju? 

Not really, for we were not spared the trauma of Sanju’s mother’s religion being brought up. But there are still some strong secular forces in the country which alone can stop this decay. In Bombay these secular forces saved the city from what could have been a huge disaster.

Your destiny has been rather tough on you…

I suppose one has to fight on, to go on with life. Right from my childhood it has been a struggle, but what happened to my son I couldn’t ever dream of. But these are tests of life.

What have you done to halt these allegations against you and your family?

I have told myself that time alone will show and tell people the truth. Where did I have the time to prove our innocence? During all these crises, I had been sleeping for barely two hours a night. I would get up by 4 am and be out by 5 am, to meet lawyers. When my home was being searched by the police for a full two days, I wasn’t even at home. All the searches were conducted in my absence.

(Pictures courtesy bollywoodfamily.blogspot.com, www.hindustantimes.com, www.outlookindia.com)

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