Skip to main content

Arnab Goswami: Journos shouldn't "serve" proprietors, coopted by politicians; they ought to work "for the nation"

By Our Representative
Even as India’s most controversial journalist Arnab Goswami is all set to launch his new news venture, Republic TV, the former editor-in-chief of Times Now has asked his journalist colleagues across India to “declare their independence from media owners and media organisations.”
“Journalists should refuse to work for these organisations”, Goswami declares in an interview published in http://www.mansworldindia.com/, adding, “We have declared our independence, and they should join us.”
Indicating reasons for leaving Times Now, he says, “I feel truly sad when some film director calls up a media proprietor and says, ‘Why is this channel asking questions about me, and about why Pakistani artists are acting in my film?’ and the media proprietor gets scared. That’s very unfortunate.”
Calling Republic TV “a pro-people organisation” that would convey the “spirit of nationalism”, he says, his venture would be “the first journalist-owned, journalist-run, journalist-managed news
organisation”, which is “fiercely independent.” Goswami's most talked-about punchline as Times Now anchor for News Hour was "the nation wants to know."
A well-known tycoon, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a member of the Rajya Sabha, vice-chairman of the NDA in Kerala and considered the top face of the BJP in the state, is reported to be one of the largest investors and a director in journalist Arnab Goswami’s media venture.
Taking on a section of journalists as belonging to what he calls Lutyens’ Delhi, says Goswami, they are the “who believe that they’re the custodians of Indian journalism… They eat together, meet together, socialise together. And, slowly, unknowingly, or maybe knowingly, over the course of the last 30-40 years, they have become co-opted by the political class.”
Pointing towards “stories about ill-gotten wealth” with “editors having massive farmhouses worth hundreds of crores in Chhatarpur”, Goswami says, “You cannot make that kind of money through an honest journalist’s income.”
“The Nira Radia tapes episode showed that there was a direct link between some journalists who were acting as mediators for corporate houses and politicians”, he adds.
Claiming that “a section of the Lutyens’ media has a bias against India”, Goswami says, without naming anyone, “There are some people who don’t even have Indian passports. They are Indian in ethnicity, but have chosen to be American citizens. They are running digital media companies.”
He adds, “There is an American citizen running a digital news site in India, inciting students in Jawaharlal Nehru University, speaking openly for Maoists, and questioning Republic”, warning, he would “fight these people till my last breath now.”
Also coming down heavily on those who call themselves “left-liberal”, both journalists and non-journalists, Goswami says, they live “a very privileged life”, operating out of “a five-kilometre zone that is centred in Chanakyapuri… They live in big houses in Vasant Vihar; they have super luxury lifestyles, largely subsidised by previous governments. The change in government has taken away these privileges.”
“To be a true liberal is to do stories and reporting that talk about the pain of the people of this country”, says Goswami, adding, they shouldn’t be sitting in “India International Centre and do ooh-la-la champagne parties and talk about how India and Pakistan should come together.”
“To be a true liberal is to ask why people in India still don’t get enough to eat; why Muslim women can be divorced on WhatsApp with triple talaq; why is someone not allowed to enter temples”, he says, adding, “To be a true liberal is to ask questions of the corrupt.”
“Is it liberal to denigrate Bhagat Singh and call him a terrorist?”, he asks, adding, “There’s a book on Indian history curated by three people, including Bipan Chandra and Mridula Mukherjee, which uses the word ‘terrorist’ to describe Bhagat Singh… Bhagat Singh was described as a terrorist because the Gandhi family did not want the attention to go away from Jawaharlal Nehru.”
Also criticizing those who returned national-level awards after the lynching of Akhlaq Khan in Uttar Pradesh, Goswami wonders, why “the award wapsi gang … did not return the awards when 1984 happened, when Sikhs were butchered”, adding “Suddenly they have developed their conscience after Narendra Modi comes into power.”

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

'A disaster in the making': Expansion of oil palm plantations in Northeast India

By Rupa Chinai, Ravi Chellam*  Until a few decades ago, India was nearly 100% self-sufficient in edible oils, with a diverse variety of oilseeds that were grown and consumed sustainably in keeping with the ecological and climatic conditions of different regions in the country. Today, India is highly reliant on palm oil imports to meet its vegetable oil demands. 

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.