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| M J Akbar loves his liquor, but is a devout Muslim, someone who does Haj and prays regularly. |
July 7, 2016, NewsCrunch
NDTV senior journalist Ravish Kumar has written a letter to MOS External Affairs M J Akbar asking him questions most journalists have been wanting to ask for sometime now.
Among the Indian journalists, there is none greater than M J Akbar.
A brilliant editor and writer, M J Akbar’s ambitions repeatedly overshot the limits of his profession.
He joined Congress in the ‘80s and when his career flagged returned to journalism without looking like a man, who had sold his soul.
M J Akbar was a fine specimen of what anIndia soaked in Nehruvian ethos could produce.
He was fiercely secular and liberal, and had fought communal elements across religion. His book Riot after riot, a spot reporting masterpiece, shows how political interests play havoc with the lives of ordinary people.
And then he joined BJP under Modi and learnt to live in peace with yogis and sadhvis, who targeted theIndia that had made him as well as his own community.
M J Akbar loves his liquor, but is a devout Muslim, someone who does Haj and prays regularly.
So what makes his conscience so malleable that it is able to slide through difficult contradictions? Is there a tip for other journalists who want to develop a similar rubbery skin?
This is the gist of the letter written by Ravish Kumar to M J Akbar.
Ravish Kumar says he, like many others of his profession, endures routine abuse. His old mother is also not spared.
There is pressure on journalists to act like official spokespersons of parties or become targets.
Whatever Modi may have done or not done, his ascendance has coincided with unprecedented polarisation in the country.
But one man, who made an easy transition without suffering any injury, was M J Akbar. For his effort he was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha membership and now a ministership.
Ravish Kumar wants to now how it is done.
A brilliant editor and writer, M J Akbar’s ambitions repeatedly overshot the limits of his profession.
He joined Congress in the ‘80s and when his career flagged returned to journalism without looking like a man, who had sold his soul.
M J Akbar was a fine specimen of what an
He was fiercely secular and liberal, and had fought communal elements across religion. His book Riot after riot, a spot reporting masterpiece, shows how political interests play havoc with the lives of ordinary people.
And then he joined BJP under Modi and learnt to live in peace with yogis and sadhvis, who targeted the
M J Akbar loves his liquor, but is a devout Muslim, someone who does Haj and prays regularly.
So what makes his conscience so malleable that it is able to slide through difficult contradictions? Is there a tip for other journalists who want to develop a similar rubbery skin?
This is the gist of the letter written by Ravish Kumar to M J Akbar.
Ravish Kumar says he, like many others of his profession, endures routine abuse. His old mother is also not spared.
There is pressure on journalists to act like official spokespersons of parties or become targets.
Whatever Modi may have done or not done, his ascendance has coincided with unprecedented polarisation in the country.
But one man, who made an easy transition without suffering any injury, was M J Akbar. For his effort he was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha membership and now a ministership.
Ravish Kumar wants to now how it is done.