Warning: From 66A to 666

Our Opposition members in the parliament are fighting for you. It would seem your lives depend on them. Reservations, anti-FDI protests, Lokpal bills and any number of issues that are important to people get their attention. The only one that doesn’t get their attention is your freedom or democracy itself. They will agree blindly to any measure and law that will curtail or suppress your freedoms. Last year actor Om Puri and IAC activist Kiran Bedi were served with notices for mocking MPs. This year Arvind Kejriwal was served with a notice for calling MPs “rapists and murderers”. All three managed to get away being public figures. You’re not going to be so lucky.  

One man arrested for tweets against Union Minister P. Chidambaram’s son, Karthi Chidambaram, in Pudduchery. Two women arrested in Mumbai for negative comments on Bal Thackeray’s funeral shutting down Mumbai. Both made a lot of noise in the media. Two more arrests, which didn’t get much media attention, were of men for allegedly posting offensive comments against some Congress leaders on their Facebook group in May 2012. The last two are also accused of insulting the national flag but when the images were shown on Headlines Today the flags were of the Congress party and not of the country. The two were also employees of Air India who were sacked for their supposed online indiscretion. Not surprisingly, all these arrests have occurred in Congress ruled states. At the heart of all this is Kapil Sibal, the man who seems to want to throttle online freedoms. I recommend you read these two posts before you proceed further: “To Kapil Sibal, With Love -Deep Throat” and “How Indian MSM Blacked-out Sibal's Grand Scheme”.

In all this, we constantly get to hear of the IT Act of 2008 and particularly section 66A. Here’s a summary of what this section is:

Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device,—

a) Any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or

b) Any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device,

c) Any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages.

Punishment - Imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.

That doesn’t need much explanation. Anything you say online which is “offensive” to anyone is liable for a 3 year imprisonment. Well, that is just about anything because anything that is said may likely offend someone or the other. Therefore, to speak is a sin. How did we get here? I guess it all starts with religion. First, the ministry of “hurt sentiments” tells you can’t offend religious sentiments. Well, actually what they mean is you can offend Hinduism or Hindu culture but you can’t talk about Islam or Christianity. Of course, there isn’t a single moron who won’t say “we welcome fair criticism”. But that is the usual “having said that...” type of statement you will hear from our intellectuals. Then slowly it extends to others. You see, we bestow upon him the title of ‘father of the nation’ with a ‘Mahatma’ prefix and then he too is beyond criticism. So anything negative or any negative book you write about MKGandhi will be banned. Even Narendra Modi will ban it. Maybe in a few 100 years MKG will be declared God’s avatar and temples will be built for him. And when you talk of religion can Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi be far behind?  Oh yes, in our times Sonia Gandhi is where it all began with. Soon we may reach the third ‘6’. We have gotten to 66A and soon we might get to ‘666’ too.

In Christianity, the number 666 is the number of the Beast and represents the Devil. It’s the number of the Anti-Christ.  An interesting theory floating around is how the number 666 has infiltrated all the bar-codes. Sounds funny? Yes it is! But do read this fascinating theory “Warning: 666 is coming”. It’s about all the smart cards and other cards. Maybe we should check our ‘Aadhar’ cards too. But funny stuff apart, in India it did start with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Given the performance of UPA it was natural that an abundance of jokes on the Gandhis, including parodies and often offensive material started floating on the internet. That, to the Congress party, is nothing short of blasphemy.

Outlook Magazine carried an article on all the funny stuff on Sonia Gandhi in December 2011. This was just after Kapil Sibal had started attempts to crackdown on internet users. Then came the August 2012 blockade of certain Twitter and FB accounts as also blockade of certain websites. A few months back this site was blocked by BSNL for nearly a month. No reason whatsoever was given and the blockade was lifted after a few complaints. The images in the Outlook magazine, some ridiculous and some funny, are not glowing tributes to SoniaG. Naturally, the Congress could hardly find humour in any of these. Kapil Sibal reacted similarly to Barkha Dutt over the Shoddy Journalism episode. Since then the GOI has been systematically trying to bring down online accounts that offend the Congress, its president or their allies in any manner. The Google statistics produced by Outlook also make interesting reading on how many attempts the GOI has made to silence free speech. Every disease has its own symptoms so too democracy. Corruption and scams are common to all forms of govts. But the sure sign that democracy is terminally ill is when free speech starts to vanish and more and more laws silencing people are made. This is especially so when public figures seem to get more protection from insults and ridicule. I need not even embark on a greater story of the indecency and frequent defamatory speeches by our public figures.

The IT Act of 2008, with this now infamous 66 number, was passed in December 2008. But go back a few months in 2008. Here’s what the Express report states: “Pune June 21 The Pune police on Saturday arrested one more person for posting derogatory content about Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi on an orkut community. Police have identified the accused as Nithin Chkravarthi Suresh Sahha (22), a resident of Sharan Apartment, Begum Peth in Hyderabad”. So even before this particular IT Act was passed in December 2008 there appears to have been enough laws under which people could be summarily arrested for insulting Sonia Gandhi. But yes, there was a need to widen the scope and make everything offensive you see. The two guys arrested in Mumbai in the India Today report are also accused of “insulting” NCP ministers Praful Patel and Sharad Pawar. We are clearly in the process of taming the beast.

Our media which enjoys complete freedom of speech also doesn’t like people to have the same freedom. They won’t stand up against foolish laws like 66A. Understandable! As of now there are two petitions in courts against the 66A clause. (Read Here) It is a surprise, though, that the petition isn’t to strike down the whole Act itself. There are enough laws to protect a person or entity against defamation in this country. Maybe the punishments need to be made more stringent under those laws. But a law, whose misuse enables the police to arrest anyone at any hour at the whims of stupid politicians, surely signals the death of democracy. It’s a warning!

The Opposition stands up for your rights against an evil law? Well, FDI or Lokpal are important issues no doubt. It may be interesting to learn that this IT Act 2008 was passed in the parliament without a single objection and without a single discussion. It threatens our democracy; the very basis of our society and existence. That’s how good our Opposition parties are. Next time you vote, maybe ask your candidate whether they will repeal this law itself and not amend it. The other option is to be prepared for the number 666 stamped on you. 

Democracy Is A Dangerous Idea

Democracy is a dangerous idea. Well, famous words as you will see a bit later. Four twitter accounts, of the 28 recommended for blockade, got notices from the GOI to present their cases or defence against the charge of ‘spreading hate’ or inciting communal tensions. That’s a news report. Nobody is really clear what the charge is though. When Ambika Soni, I&B Minister, says the govt is not indulging in or encouraging censorship it’s a bit hard to believe. It was easy to handle the MSM so far but the Social Media (SM) has become a thorn in the govt’s flesh. This is the rise of ordinary people which must be crushed at any cost.

Corruption and dictatorial regimes cannot flourish unless they destroy the press or co-opt them in their scheme of operations. Over the years the Congress and its Communist allies managed to co-opt much of the MSM to the system but are struggling for clues on how to deal with this menace called SM. The internet and SM somehow seem beyond their control unlike media houses. It keeps exposing their misdeeds that the MSM doesn’t and govt doesn’t even know which Twitter accounts can be co-opted with a coal block. Seriously, if  Kanchan Gupta or Shiv Aroor could be co-opted, they would probably be operating a coal mine or running a steel plant as a luxurious hobby. I don’t follow either of them but from various reports and RTs haven’t found anything objectionable in their statements. Would be true for other journalists and social media accounts critical of this govt. (Everyone on SM should hone their coal-mining skills, just in case!) So you have media houses like the Lokmat group or the Dainik Bhaskar group operating coal blocks. Perhaps even more! And what’s their experience in coal? Umm… I guess many in the media are comfortable with ‘black’ deeds.

Day after day, night after night the MSM brings on TV those accused of corruption to defend themselves and explain the charges. Far from doing that what we get is flinging mindless allegations against others by them. Any decent moderator of a debate would have said “Stop! Don’t fling allegations but explain the charges against you”. A minister’s guards thrash a traffic cop in Srinagar. Justice Arnab calls the minister to defend himself in a debate. Does this pathetic incident really need a debate? What deserves plain condemnation and a demand for sacking of the minister is being “debated” on TV. And the minister denies seeing the incident and explains he was about 30ft away from the scene and so on. This is the mindless nonsense that is delivered in a news channel. And if the worst happens the govt will set up a committee. Make sure you leave notes for your great grandchildren to check up on the report of that committee. You may not be around.

R. Jagannathan (TheJaggi), editor of Firstpost, in an article titled “Rise of crony journalism and tainted money in media” writes about the media-politico nexus and explains this dangerous association. He exposes the mafia pretty neatly. At the end of his article he runs a disclaimer: “Firstpost is owned by media house Network18 that has presence across print, television and new media”. Er.. he forgot something. The right disclaimer should have included the name “Reliance”. Now, that would make a big difference to the disclosure. Wouldn’t it? That is not to fault TheJaggi, he does a great job with his writings. The point is that while we generally scream and shout about how great our democracy is or how free and independent our people are we usually miss some tricks. We have been fooled repeatedly into believing that our MSM stands for democracy, free speech blah blah. By TheJaggi’s account they hardly want any of that. They’re happy being cronies of the govt, making money and keeping that system going. What they want and practice could be called “the convenient democracy”.

You see, no matter how much they scream about it, govts and corporations usually don’t like the idea of democracy; at least not for all. It's a very irritating and inconvenient hurdle. So when a good part of the news media becomes a crony, corporations dictate the policies and politicians indulge in massive loot of the nation it leaves the ordinary people nowhere. And they’ll keep telling you; voting is a sacred responsibility. Take Ramalinga Raju. Do you seriously believe the guy could have swindled 7000 crores all on his own? Do you think Jagan Reddy, son of YSR, raised an empire of over 40000 crores just like that? And he owns a media circus too. Far from representing the people and creating systems that work for them a corrupt govt attempts to “manage” people and fit them into the system they want to create for themselves. This is not possible unless a huge part of the media is corrupted and bought to support this grand plan. And it’s working.

Considering the term ‘socialist’ was framed into our constitution let’s hear another socialist. Tony Benn, former British MP for over 50 years is one such socialist. In his own words, he retired from parliament to spend more time on politics. He championed the poor and the coal miners. He has been awarded many Oscars by the miners. Their Mining Lamp is the Oscar equivalent for them and Tony Benn has been awarded many of those. This edited video is of an extended interview by documentary film maker Michael Moore with him during the making of ‘Sicko’. Transcripts of a few key statements Benn makes are given below the video. Watch (1:57 minutes):

....The task of representation is to change the system to meet the needs of the people. But with the power of global capital now, instead of being represented, people are being ‘managed’. People are being changed to fit them into the system instead of the systems being changed to meet people’s needs. And that’s a huge transformation.... The world is now run not by the American President or the British Prime Minister... The IMF, the WTO, the MNCs… they have far greater power than political leaders. And people sense this. And they become cynical... turnout and voting is low. But actually this is an attempt to reverse the power of the vote. If the power is taken away from you and handed over to corporations or international organisations...they're are not elected then you realise you have lost something of fundamental importance. I think democracy is a very very radical idea. It’s not accepted by the Communists, Stalin didn't accept it... I don’t think the Capitalists like it because it takes power from them and gives it to the people who haven’t got money. And that is a very dangerous idea indeed.

Yes indeed, democracy is a dangerous idea for the corrupt and crony capitalists. A professor can be arrested for criticising a CM as can be a farmer. Imaginary ‘hate speech’ cases will be filed against prominent critics of govt. IT rules will be framed in a manner which allows an accused no defence or hearing. Pages on the web can be taken down merely on suspicion and allegation. A cartoonist can be arrested for “sedition” for abusing national symbols. Oh! Think about it, the ones who abuse national symbols in posters are the ones who love democracy. The pic misusing the three lions is worse because it looks like a political campaign poster and is a real offence. The union of media crooks conspires to cover up and hide the truth. It was easy to manage the MSM with threats, ad doles, investment by corporate giants, flashy awards and so on. It’s when the power of free speech passes on to ordinary people that creates a nuisance for the corrupt and that’s what makes democracy a dangerous idea for them. 

Die, Freedom

Many court judgements running into 200-300 pages or even more could make a hardbound or paperback novel by themselves. If one takes time to read court judgements in many landmark cases, those read better than or at least as good as literary classics. This is particularly so when it concerns the constitution or freedoms. In a somewhat adapted statement of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King observed “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”. Question here is; what exactly is moral? For some the term “moral” means in the eyes of God and for some it simply means “common human decency”. There are still others who believe the govt cannot and should not decide or pass laws on issues of morality. All of these appear to be valid beliefs, as long as they don’t threaten or violate the freedom, life or property of others.

Lovers break up, relationships break up and marriages break up. Someone does end up with “hurt feelings” all the time. There is no law, and cannot be, that can heal such “hurt feelings”, just as there isn’t a law that can guarantee “happiness”. When laws can’t heal human hurt how is it that there are laws that claim “hurt feelings” for national symbols or even religions? Flag, monuments, buildings, pictures of religious or spiritual leaders and so on. Mind you, “feelings” are distinct from “physical” hurt and damage caused by violent acts. Also, laws become just or unjust only in a context. Cartoons and writings should be viewed from the context of massive corruption and scams. This “I feel hurt so I want to screw you” is a law for the insane. Jokes and cartoons in good or bad taste usually offend someone. They are indeed intended to offend.

In a time of extraordinary corruption, scams and subversion of institutions by the govt of the day it is natural and right for people to protest. This may even involve breaking some laws that supposedly protect “hurt feelings”. Aseem Trivedi is one such cartoonist who decided to lampoon all such national symbols and some politicians through images. If one looks at the images he drew, some are sure to find them in bad taste and revolting. But that is precisely his objective: To revolt. A rampantly corrupt govt has provided with him enough provocation. But he’s doing so without threatening or violating the freedoms of others. He is not violently revolting to overthrow the state. So the charge of “sedition” is even more absurd. If some people ended up with “hurt feelings” they should be seeing a psychiatrist and not filing FIRs against him. But hey, filing FIRs and legal cases is a lot better than drawing swords and guns as some do. In normal course Trivedi may not have been driven to such cartooning. These are desperate times. Yes, technically Trivedi may have broken some stupid laws but in the current context of the country such responses are not unusual.

Now, while the corrupt men and women in TV media tweeted vociferously in support of Aseem Trivedi they refused to carry a debate or raise a storm on their TV channels. Why? It’s because the National Broadcaster’s Association (NBA) has issued an advisory to TV channels not to carry the cartoons of Trivedi. Remember, using the cartoons, howsoever offensive, for discussions and in news reports on recognised news channels is not an offence and does not break the law. Cowards! And they have the audacity to call themselves watchdogs! Does that sound similar to the excuse they used in not covering the #AMS sex video episode under some fake interpretation of court orders? No, not the video itself but at least for 3 days the media blacked out the news itself till, inevitably, the video went viral on the internet. Morality? Privacy? Hurting feelings? Okay!

Here’s an image from a TV channel. It’s actually a video that was aired on the channel and then posted on its website. Oh, wait the NBA didn’t have any guidelines or advisories about such episodes. The woman molested at Guwahati was shown a zillion times across TV channels. Some of them didn’t even blur images. Some blurred more and some blurred less. They didn’t think much before flashing images of tits and cleavage. And the image on the website itself is no different. Oh grow up they say! Tits- Good! Cartoons lampooning parliament, Ashoka pillar or politicians – Bad! There’s a reason why I call the NBA a union of snakes. The last thing these morons should be deciding is what is morally right for the public.(I didn't want to use this image although I had it for long but this recent case makes it necessary).

Did I miss it? No, a little bird reminded me. Invariably, in all such cases the Fiberals will unfailingly bring up M.F. Hussain, the Father of their “freedom of expression”. And who else to recognise his freedom of art than the journalistic-bimbo? Don’t forget, she’s the one who wanted female orgasm to be a ‘constitutional responsibility of men’. 

Okay, the tweet here isn’t a new one but from 2009. Now if at all anyone brings up MFH against Trivedi, remember MFH had no provocation. Did he have a motive? Sure, he did.  But whether it was porn in his mind, money or art or wilfull abuse of Hindu deities – we don’t know. But his consistent painting of only Hindu and national symbols in the nude can’t be passed off as art without being accused of being a prejudiced bigot. Trivedi’s expression rudely captures corruption that affects all Indians and hurts them. I wonder if the Fiberals will suggest that Saraswati or Durga or Lakshmi or Bharat Mata were hurting all Indians so fair to paint them nude. I hope not, but hey, the media morons never fail to surprise. Do they?

The right thing to do was to file cases against MFH as someone has done against Trivedi. Some people did and MFH claimed there were 900 cases filed against him. So the coward runs off to some foreign land instead of facing the courts and dies as a fugitive. In contrast, Aseem Trivedi went to Mumbai and surrendered. He peacefully allowed the police to arrest him. He has not applied for any bail till the time of writing. That is courage and the bimbos from the Fiberal community would do well not to make comparisons. Whether a FIR or legal case is right or wrong is for the courts to decide but it’s always a more civilised way of battling. It’s definitely better than drawing swords and guns like some God’s warriors do.

Mamata Banerjee has arrested even a professor and a farmer for offending her. The GOI has been busy passing all kinds of laws to throttle the social media and the internet. They have even identified eight specific states to target for the clampdown. Till date the GOI doesn’t have a shred of evidence that Twitterati or social media sites incited violence or rumours that led to the Assam violence, its aftermath or the subsequent exodus of NE citizens from many cities. Dictators use “fear mongering” to suppress voices and hide their crimes. India isn’t different from that in the current situation. A corrupt regime flailing its arms and hitting out at anything and everything to cover up their shameful crimes. And what’s our supposed “watchdogs” up to? They are busy slyly helping the govt to impose restrictions on freedoms under the guise of hate-speech, spreading hate and such nonsense.

Larry Flynt, the founder of porn magazine Hustler, will be more remembered for his fight for free speech than his porn (Read about the case here in my post). In a parody that “hurt the feelings” of religious leader Jerry Falwell he was penalised with damages of $200,000. In the campaign to defend himself Flynt was arrested 9 times. He was shot at and permanently paralysed waist below. In a landmark decision the US Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision and protected his free speech rights. In the landmark case the US SC observed: "The fact that society may find speech offensive is not a sufficient reason for suppressing it. Indeed, if it is the speaker's opinion that gives offense, that consequence is a reason for according it constitutional protection. For it is a central tenet of the First Amendment that the government must remain neutral in the marketplace of ideas”.

Flynt and the late Falwell later became friends and often had friendly debates. In one of those debates Flynt mentioned that in the monthly agenda meetings of Hustler the discussion was “Who haven’t we offended this month?” Haha! That requires constitutional protection. And he added “Time and Newsweek don’t need constitutional protection, it is people like us who offend who need the protection”. Govt slaves like our MSM don’t need that protection. It is the likes of Aseem Trivedi who need that protection. If he isn’t afforded that protection watch more of our freedoms die. 

India's Best Journalists

Since the article on India’s Worst Journalists-2012 (IWJ) last April I had received many suggestions to do one on India’s best. Some even recommended that the same ‘worst’ should be put to another poll to find out which are the best among them. When I looked up the ‘Charter of MediaCrooks’ there were hundreds of provisions to identify and talk about the crooks but not a single one to identify the good ones or the best in the business. Fair, since that wasn’t the task of MediaCrooks. So I derived inspiration from the 'Worst list' and ‘manipulated’ the Charter to enable this site to identify the best journalists. The candidates on the best journalists list were all picked by people on the social media. (Thanks to all who contributed). If I had left it to the Anti-SocialMedia (MSM) probably none of these names would have figured.

There is something else about the journalists on the list. You won’t find most of them flamboyant or glamorous. You won’t find most of them frequently in those back-scratching media awards functions. The greatest thing about the candidates on the ‘best’ poll is that when they write an article or appear on TV it is highly unlikely you will find them asking: “Oh God, what should I tell them”? They speak their own free minds. So here are those who have been voted India’s Best Journalists (Poll results appended at the end of this post):

10. Ashok Malik – Malik has been in the business for over two decades now. His association has mostly been with The Pioneer but you can also find him in other journals and lately also on many TV channels as a panellist. His writings are not the kind that will set you on fire but Malik manages to put across his views and arguments gently and without offending. That might be surprising since many bios of his mention his wanting to be a gossip-writer in film magazines. That’s hard to believe because he looks so serious. It would be nice, though, to see a gossip column from him – just to see some stuff from him on the Poonam Pandeys, Sonam Kapoors and Uday Chopras.  In any case, don’t expect him to be politically incorrect. Like other successful journalists who have adapted to the Internet Malik understands and values the social media. He is happy to write in a form that the MSM wouldn’t consider really ‘Sexy’ in these times. He speaks his mind anyway and that’s the obvious reason he’s here. 

9. Madhu Trehan – She’s one of the survivors from the journalism of the old world charm. The co-founder of IndiaToday, India’s first weekly news-magazine, has many firsts to her credit. The other significant claim to fame has to be her video news-magazine ‘Newstrack’, in the days of Doordarshan’s monopoly, which was made available as videos through her magazine and through regular video outlets. But Madhu Trehan is not on this list for her past laurels though. She has re-invented herself and has been active on the social media. Her news channel Newslaundry is growing in popularity. It’s a site where Madhu and her colleagues launder the regular crooks in the media with a lot of humour and candour. Viewers and readers of Newslaundry have often felt she has been soft on the crooks but that takes away nothing from her sincerity and her commitment. She has also learned to engage with the crowd on social media. Her popularity is on the up again.

8. R. Jagannathan – Business World, India Today, Express group, Business Standard, DNA he has worked with all of them. A significant involvement has to be the launch of Business Today. Other than that he has spent relatively smaller tenures with most of these publications. But TheJaggi, as he calls himself on Twitter, came to greater prominence with FirstPost. Though I call Firstpost the online sidekick of the Network18 group (CNN-IBN, CNBC-TV18 etc.), Jaggi has brought a lot of balance and freshness in the online news business. As editor of Firstpost not only his own articles but even those of others have largely been truly interesting and fair. That’s what is amazing. Since the group’s TV channels are heavily biased and are nearly political mouthpieces, Firstpost doesn’t appear to be so. Being a business journalist himself, his articles on economics and financial matters make exceptional reading. I don’t have numbers but I would dare to state Firstpost could easily be the most popular dedicated online news site at the moment and will grow in strength. A lot of credit for that must go to TheJaggi.

 7. P. Sainath – He calls himself a ‘rural’ reporter. One of the few Indians to receive the Ramon Magsaysay awards Sainath is the art movie equivalent of Bollywood in journalism. And I say that nicely. On the mainstream media degenerating into entertainment he once remarked: “"I felt that if the Indian press was covering the top 5 per cent, I should cover the bottom 5 per cent” and that he does splendidly. On another occasion he observed there were 400 journalists reporting on a Fashion show in Delhi but not one reporting on poverty in India. One recent article by him “Reaping gold through cotton, and newsprint” about the misreporting and twisted journalism by TOI is indicative of the tenor of most of his articles and exposes. It is indeed surprising that he hasn’t been called upon to be a panellist on TV shows relating to farmer suicides and such related issues. Maybe he just detests the very format of these debates and avoids them. Outspoken against Paidmedia and other evils of the press he is one reporter who should be inspiration for a lot more.

6. J. Gopikrishnan – There must be a reason his name starts with G. His stunning investigative reports on the 2G scam has exposed many corrupt politicians and the entire UPA govt itself. Gopi, as he is called in trade circles, systematically pursued and exposed the manner in which scarce national resources were sold for a song by the corrupt. Naturally, apart from rising popularity among people a number of awards followed as well in the last year or so. The mostly compromised bigger media outlets started following the 2G story only after his reports. That Gopi works with a relatively small newspaper like The Pioneer also reflects on where good journalism is coming from lately. In the words of his own editor, Chandan Mitra, “He has put on no airs despite the accolades he has received and the many awards he has won. He remains committed to his profession and profession alone”. What followed Gopi’s reports are similar assessments by the CAG on 2G and worse, the explosive Radiatapes that exposed the media-politician-lobbyists nexus. More power to him.

5. Sucheta Dalal – She could have been somebody…. Somebody like… You know who, a media super celebrity. She could have easily compromised ethics and traded that for millions. But Sucheta Dalal is one of the most reliable financial journalists around. From the Harshad Mehta scam to Ketan Parekh to current misdeeds in the financial markets she has served ordinary investors and consumers all her career. Having worked with all the major newspapers in the country she now runs her own web magazine, Moneylife. Apart from various investment and securities boards, including those of the govt, she is also on the board of Consumer Education & Research Centre in Ahmedabad. In the crowd of many unscrupulous financial and stock market journalists, in print and on TV, she stands out like a beacon. One hopes future aspirants in this domain will look to her for inspiration.

 4. M. J. Akbar – There isn’t much that I need to write about MJ Akbar that people don’t already know. From a Trainee in TOI to launch of major journals like TheSunday and Telegraph and to also being a member of parliament there isn’t much that MJA hasn’t achieved. One of the senior most journalists of India he has also authored many books. In particular, his analyses of Indo-Pak relations are easily among the best anyone can get to read. His recent launch, the online SundayGuardian, has acquired a fair bit of popularity with the internet news readers. SundayGuardian is as hard-hitting a news magazine as you can get. He is currently the Editorial Director of IndiaToday and their TV channel HeadlinesToday. That he retains a high level of popularity after four decades in journalism says everything about why he is still rated as one of the best.

 3. Kanchan Gupta – He is most famous for his association with The Pioneer and even more so as an advisor in the PMO for Atal Behari Vajpayee. Apart from writing on politics and current affairs you could fairly call him a reasonable expert on middle-east affairs owing to his work in that region. He can be subtle, wry and sarcastic but don’t expect him to make you fall off your chair laughing. Straight-talking, blunt and sometimes provocative, his writings do not spin facts. That’s the reason he is very popular with the right wing and not so popular in the mainstream media. Often appears on TV shows but gets shouted down very easily. That is not so much because he doesn’t have a booming voice but because he stops when asked by the moderator and cares to listen to others. In a country where journalism and media is dominated by communists and being ‘right-wing’ is almost criminal, his success stands out for his brilliant, insightful and honest writing. Has been another one to quickly learn the future of media is online and has now started his own venture called Niti Digital.

2. Swapan Dasgupta – Quite easily the best and most popular of contemporary journalists around. That should be a surprise because he too is a ‘right-wing’ journalist. Not just that, he also happens to be the most sought after TV panellist. I refuse to call him an ‘intellectual’ as many do since I consider that term reserved for ‘Nobeler’ souls. Let’s see, I would call Amartya Sen or Dileep Padgaonkar an intellectual. Which is why it is dismaying to find him debating ‘intellectuals’ like Mani Shankar Aiyar. SD is simply blessed with an extraordinary abundance of simple common sense. That’s what makes his writings a delight to read. The number of journals he writes for is too long to be listed here. Sharp observations, deep insights and simple honesty are key features of his writings. Like Sachin Tendulkar he is not gifted with great vocal chords but he makes up for that with his solid batting. If he is on a TV debate you are assured of a decent one without the usual cacophony that passes for debates. Whatever one’s ideology he is clearly a role model for budding journalists.

1. Arun Shourie – This is quite a surprise. I say that in a nice way because Arun Shourie hasn’t been a very active journalist for quite some time. That he remains the best journalist with voters is a tribute to his standing and accomplishments. He is the first of India’s true investigative journalists who led to the fall of a Chief Minister in Maharashtra in the eighties. His most reputed tenure is that as the Executive Editor of Indian Express. At one point the Congress govt had nothing less than 300 cases slapped against the IE after the Bofors episode. Author of many books, MP and was also a minister under the NDA govt. It’s distressing for many that since the days of Shourie the fiercely independent IE has more or less become a ‘handler’ of the govt’s agenda. He had also strongly opposed Pratibha Patil for president and it’s not so hard now to see why. Every article and book written by Shourie is perhaps better researched, more thoughtful and provocative than any of the ones by many modern day journalists. Not surprisingly, he was he named as one of the International Press Institute's 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the past 50 years in 2000 apart from being honoured with the Magsaysay award. The likes of Shourie and the others on this list keep the flame of hope for good journalism floating.

So there it is; India’s Best Journalists and I expect they will remain so for quite some time. In an age where skin colour, lipstick, make-up, laundering and brokering skills determine the prominence and influence of a journalist, it is not very difficult for them to stand out. I believe they would have stood out anyway. If most of the media crooks are a danger to democracy and freedom then there are some who strongly protect it too. And those are 10 good reasons to cheer.

PS: The candidates in the poll who did not make it to the Top-10 have nothing to worry. They are in great company and are sure to find their place in the sun for sure in the future.

 

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