Former PM Manmohan Singh may have had many flaws but he was a genuine and under-appreciated democrat, argues Barkha Dutt.
Read the full script here:
Remember what former prime minister Manmohan Singh famously said?
History will be kinder to me than the media, he used to argue…
During the second term of the UPA when outraged television anchors would not find one good thing to say about him.
Well, frankly, he doesn’t have to wait that long… To say I told you so…
He was right.
He deserves a much better report card than we in the media gave him.
And here’s the irony…
The one thing he totally scores on and has never been given credit for is his attitude to press freedom…
And to journalists like me who were often critical of him…
We all mocked him for being too silent — Maun Mohan, we sneered.
But he never — not once — tried to silence us.
———
Now of course his legacy, like all significant national leaders, is a mixed bag…
And many criticisms of him will still hold…
His personal integrity notwithstanding, he did not crackdown firmly enough on the corruption of colleagues and allies…
And the awkward power-sharing arrangement with his party meant his authority was often eroded.
Had he stood up and resigned, even his worst critics would have applauded.
But this does not change the fact…
That he was a genuine democrat.
Like so many of my fraternity, I have used harsh words for him…
But as prime minister he still met me and others with unfailing civility…
No matter how critical we were.
Not once did he shut down channels of communication or our access to officials in his government, or even in the prime minister’s office.
He upheld the institutional freedom of the media…
In a way that even his own party did not…
We took it for granted then.
But today, when television news media has slipped to its nadir…
We must give him due credit.
Even Rahul Gandhi has started doing regular press interactions only now and, perhaps, began with an aversion to the press.
Manmohan was ahead of the curve.
———
This week, the former prime minister released a collection of his writings called Changing India…
And reminded us that though we called him silent, he was never scared of talking to the press.
He is right.
Manmohan Singh may have avoided individual one-on-one interviews…
But he spoke freely and regularly at press conferences.
When Prime Minister Modi ended the custom of reporters accompanying him on trips abroad…
It was presented as the end of what the Right-wing calls ‘Lutyens media’.
In real terms what it ended was, in fact, the mandatory press conference by the prime minister on board Air India One…
And the right to interrogate the highest office in India.
Given that Prime Minister Modi is yet to address a single press conference…
Though he has given interviews to preferred journalists…
You decide what is more democratic.
The answer is obvious
———
We live in a media age…
Where access to information is determined purely by who the government likes or does not like.
If you’re a reasonable critic, or anything but a Right-winger…
Your access to information is definitely curtailed.
Worse, you may even be shunned and villified.
As the fight between Jim Acosta of CNN and Donald Trump showed us…
Shutting down access is also a form of intimidation.
That’s why CNN and scores of other media networks sued the Trump administration when they suspended his White House credentials.
In India, we have accepted these covert clampdowns without much protest.
So, the least we can do is to be more fair to the one leader who let the media breathe.
Manmohan Singh may not have had the flamboyance or flair for new-age politics…
You won’t catch him taking a selfie, for sure…
But his instincts as prime minister were liberal.
And we do not have to wait for history to stand up and say so.
Also read: What if Barkha Dutt had joked about Konark Temple’s erotica instead of Abhijit Iyer Mitra?
https://www.opindia.com/2018/12/barkha-dutt-manmohan-singh-the-print/
Let’s see your tolerance…. Hahahaha
https://www.opindia.com/2018/12/barkha-dutt-manmohan-singh-the-print/
What about this….
This is a perfect assessment I will call its a self introspection by the name prominent in Media for years. Barkha u did best, now let the other follow u if they really think we did a mistake. Attacking someone in politics is expected but not to the cheap level of addressing a person by a common name for fun. You must have understood what I am addressing to.. The Master stroke was a hug. U can’t talk anything derogatory when crores copy u. My request to all in the coming election please do not use any derogatory language. That shows we are not sophisticated enough. Be a gentleman and kind hearted lady and guide the nation at highest level of languages. Thank u for reading
Democratic Freedom of Press – does it mean must be tolerated even it makes action towards an end less effective?
You hardly know him Burkha Dutta other than with a mike in your hand and asking questions for which he had prepared answers in a tiny voice. He was our professor for less than three months in Punjab University and had tough time trying to control his class of thirty students.
Yes, he may be brilliant economist, which I doubt but five years later even other prime ministers can say, I told you so. What matters is whether was he a leader; could he control this highly corrupt bunch of Congressmen. Well, he miserably failed.
Please madam, you were the corrupt journalist who used to act as broker for congress why the hell you will give any thing against him, it was court and CAG verdict that dragged MMs in to bathroom having bath with umbrella.. You polluted entire journalism.
Expose a plant to regular doses of sunshine and it grows more healthily. Democracy is not suited to hydroponics and hothouses.