Journalist Neerja Chowdhury opens up about pressure on press and institutions and ED’s arrest of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal
Journalist Neerja Chowdhury opens up about pressure on press and institutions and ED’s arrest of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal
Neerja Chowdhury, a renowned Journalist had recently penned a book, “How Prime Ministers Decide”.
On Thursday, 2 November, she said that it would take a long time for India to forget the1984 anti-Sikh riots post assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi despite the issue needing a closure.
Neerja who was speaking at a book-talk session moderated by Resident Editor, The Indian Express, Manraj Grewal Sharma, at Chandigarh, said that when she was coming for the book-talk, she was thinking that this issue needs closure, but, ironically, it still festers somewhere as it has hurt the psyche the way the violence was unleashed. Notedly, it was a very cynical use of power to win elections.
She went on to recall how Arun Nehru, former Parliamentarian, maneuvered the way for Rajiv Gandhi following the assassination of the then
PM Indira Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi was the accidental prime minister and that Arun Nehru had once told him the power behind his throne of how how 5,000 Sikhs were killed and Hindu votes consolidated.
The violence cynically triggered for vote bank politics and she hopes there is healing and closure.
About pressure on press and institutions, the author added that there was a buzz in Delhi of the likely arrest of the Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate.
He skipped the ED summons and she isn’t aware how ED will react. But what surprises her is that none has hit the road from either his party, or from his allies and the substance of the charges against him is unknown.
She added that there is a general feeling only opposition figures are targeted and not the ruling party figures. On the issue of Operation Bluestar at Golden Temple, Chowdhury asserted that Indira Gandhi had dithered on initiating Army action.
However, the younger lot of the party including Arun Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Arjun Singh insisted and yet she was afraid of moving the Army in the place of worship.
These youngsters wanted action and after the Army action, she organised a maha-mrityunjaya puja at her home. After that she often talked about death.
She mentioned to Rahul Gandhi not to grieve at her death. She probably had a premonition or she had awareness of the consequences of what the government helmed by her had done.
About Punjab, she articulated that the state had provided three Prime Ministers (Gulzari Lal Nanda, IK Gujral and
Dr Manmohan Singh) to the country, amounting to 20 per cent, adding that Punjab gave India the only PM from minority community, the Sikhs.
On her favourite Prime Minister, as she had been covering politics in Delhi and penned the book from her experiences, she elaborated that, she cannot say who is her favourite. There was good in everyone but then there was a very ugly underbelly. She said Dr Manmohan Singh was considered weak, but the way he understood pressure from his party chief Sonia Gandhi, alliance partners for 39 months did not give up on Indo-US nuclear deal, but, exhibited killer’s instinct and finally bagged the deal.
Neerja had gone to see him with the book and he was very happy on seeing the chapter on him titled-The Underrated Prime Minister Who Triumphed.”
Reportedly, Nehru had handed over a three-point agenda to Rajiv Gandhi and it was Ram Mandir, abrogation of section 370 and universal civil code (UCC).
Notedly, it turned out to be the core agenda of BJP.
As a matter of fact, we seem to be getting more polarised now and moving India in that direction. She hopes that there are men and women who will reverse this direction.
With 200 million Muslims beleaguered, it is’nt a happy situation to be in,” adding that dded at the same time, she claimed that all political parties seem to be now working on the agenda of polarisation and offering freebies.
She further said that Bhupesh Baghel is very much Hindu and so is Kamal Nath,” as she advocated federalism saying that India was so diverse that it should be run in a coalition way.
Indian is a rich coalition and that no country is as plural and diverse as India. That is the way to keep it.
She further went on to add that one-nation-one-election plan wasn’t favourable to people, and in India people say the politicians come to them each time there is election. If the elections take place once in five years, it means that they will go to people only once in five years.
She also said she was fascinated by the Modi phenomenon, and that, if a chaiwala can become a Prime Minister, and a tribal can become a President, that means power can rest in the periphery in India. This lends a lot of hope.
News Edit K.V.Raman
