New Delhi: At the launch of I, Witness, his latest book, Shahid Siddiqui held forth like seasoned journalists do. He wasn’t just brimming with anecdotes or flaunting his relationship with politics and politicians; he was condensing the history of independent India.
But of course, there was ample proof of the relationships Siddiqui has nurtured over four decades. Leaders across party lines showed up at Delhi’s India International Centre on Wednesday, each sharing stories of the chronicler — who, for a single evening, seemed to unite the smorgasbord that is Indian politics.
The leaders included National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary, former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, and former BJP MP Ram Prasad Sarmah.
‘Fearless journalism’
Siddiqui began the evening by pointing out a helpful fact: he wasn’t just sharing the stage with them. With certain leaders, he has a bond that in all likelihood, cannot be severed — if generational ties are anything to go by. Three generations of Abdullahs, Khurshids, and Chaudharys have been witness to Siddiqui’s career — and friendship. All in all, the event served as an ode to a relationship as old as the professions themselves.
“Shahid Siddiqui has lived a life of fearless journalism,” said Tharoor, going on to narrate two essential tales. In 1986, Siddiqui was arrested under the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act for interviewing Jagjit Singh Chauhan, the founder of the Khalistan movement. Twenty-six years later, he was expelled from the Samajwadi Party for interviewing then-Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
“In both instances, he held firm to a core principle that a journalist’s first duty is not to comfort the powerful, but to question the complacent,” Tharoor added.
I, Witness: India from Nehru to Narendra Modi traces independent India through each of its prime ministers. And Siddiqui wasn’t the only one at the book launch who has had a ringside view of the trials and travails of Indian politics. Journalist Neerja Chowdhury was also part of the panel discussion, seated alongside Ram Prasad Sarmah and historian Hilal Ahmed.
But it was veteran politician Farooq Abdullah who reproduced the ethos, the rhythms on which India has been founded. He spoke almost entirely in Urdu, a homage not just to a language for which the death-knell is rung, but also to Siddiqui, the editor of Nai Duniya, an Urdu weekly.
“Telling the truth in today’s world is dangerous because there are very few left who can withstand it,” said Abdullah.
The former J&K chief minister went on to give a grim testimony of today’s India.
“China used to be behind us. Today it is ahead of us in every field,” he said, referring to a governing principle that dictates the world’s second–largest economy. “It’s one nation. If you survive, I will survive. If you don’t survive I will die. In India, what has taken place is — If I must survive, you must die.”
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A colourful life
Siddiqui describes himself as someone with politics inside him. But he “cannot be a politician.” He has been part of a diversity of parties — from the Congress to the SP to BSP to the RLD. It’s been a colourful life, to say the least.
When Siddiqui was arrested under the TADA Act, he was represented by none other than Salman Khurshid. Laughing, the Congress leader relayed a story from the time. Rajiv Gandhi asked Khurshid how he was doing, and he responded by saying that he was fighting his administration — and that Siddiqui had been arrested. The prime minister was in disbelief.
“That was all it took. And Shahid sahab was freed,” said Khurshid. “The important thing is that the state-appointed lawyer was never informed. When we stood in the high court, the state-appointed lawyer began by calling him a dangerous person.”
Meanwhile, Khurshid was asked about Siddiqui’s whereabouts in the court: he was with Rajiv Gandhi, on a flight to London. In all likelihood, said Khurshid, he was interviewing him.
“There was chaos in the court,” laughed Khurshid. “The judge asked the prosecutor: do you have anything to say? He said, ‘I rest my case’”.
It was stories like this, narrated casually, which gave audience members a vivid look into the India of the past.
Neerja Chowdhury, author of How Prime Ministers Decide, referred to this wealth — which, according to her, journalists other than Siddiqui also possess.
“There are people in this room today. 80 per cent of whom have a book inside them,” she said. “They’ve seen so much. You can see books like I, Witness coming out, in the months and years to come.”
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)