Lawyers hold aloft the effigy of a ‘deshdrohi’ or traitor. Image Credit: Shome Basu
We journalists often point an accusing finger at others but never at ourselves. We decide others’ limits of accountability but never ours. We are called the fourth estate of Indian democracy, but are we, our organisations, our thinking and our work process democratic? These are questions not for me alone but for everybody.
The manner in which JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was framed in the name of ‘nationalism’ and charged as ‘anti-national’ by means of media trial, points to a very dangerous tendency. We journalists have a responsibility to ask questions of those in authority, not to work in equilibrium with them. Whatever excellence has been achieved in the history of journalism has been the result of asking questions of authority.
To question or not to question is a personal matter. However I believe the personal is also political. A time has come upon us when one has to choose between one’s professional responsibilities and politico-social convictions, take sides. I have chosen to go with the latter and due to differences on these grounds with my organisation Zee News I have resigned with effect from February 19.
I dedicate my resignation to the hundreds of thousands of Kanhaiyas in India and to those friends in JNU who are inspired to struggle and make sacrifices by the beautiful dreams they dream.
Image Credit: Vishwa Deepak's Facebook
But for how long and why?
Willful distortion of JNU story
