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O F T H E F O R T N I G H T
SINGH
IHaven'tCompromised
AT 68,
Khushwant Singh, ebullient,
ea-
and a man with an impish sense
of
fun,
acknowledged to be a household name.
January, Singh,
who has
readers
with
his
acid
an d
barbed
in
T he H industan T imes ,
is
downas editor after less than three
in the seat. Th e bespectacled an d sli-
stoo ping gentleman sardarji ha s
th e
subject
o f
much acid debate,
bu t
that a f f e c t
his
image. Frank
d
forthright,
Singh has changed
jobs
ami-
t raging controversy. He was ousted from
he I l lustrated W eekly of India in 1977 by
e Janata regime, primarily because of his
an d
unabashed show
o f
loyalty
to
rs Gandhi and the late Sanjay Gandhi,
himself
the
epithet
o f
Khushamad
from an indignant reader.
Th e
high point
o f
Singh's career
in
alism, which started
in
1969,
was his
o f
T he
Illustrated W eekly; H e
his indelible mark on the magazine by
into its somewhat dullformat, pic-
o f nudes and his iconoclastic views.
e circulation
o f
the magazine shot
up
and, with
it, his
market value.
ll along his
varied career
as lawyer,
diplomat, author
of the
T ra in
T o
Pakistan and H is to ry
Sikhs,
an d
editor
o f
such diverse
magazine, N a t io na l H era ld , N ew
magazine
and of
course T he
Singh has been many a
charged
with inconsistency in his
to have no re-
hi s analogy o f Maneka Gandhi as
astride a
tiger ,
however made a
relations with Mrs Gandhi. But
able
to
establish
himself in her
favour
and was rewarded
with
a
seat
in the
Sabha.
Sympathetic
to the
cause
o f
women's
is
unable
to
comprehend
e
readers' objection
to his
playfully
references
to
women
in his
columns.
leaving The H industan Times Singh
s every intention o f remaining in the li-
will continue his widely read
'With Malice Towards One And
T he
Hindustan Times
apart from
for the Ananda Bazar group of pub-
He also ha s another project o n
a novel, with Delhi as its backdrop,
ha s
been
lying
incomplete
on his
desk
last
12
years. IN D I T O D Y
C O O M I K P O O R met and in-
Singh
in his
-first
floor
Hindustan
Times Building o f f i c e in New Delhi.
Extracts from the interview:
Q.
/
understand
th
Birlas
have asked
you to
relinquish
charge even before your
contract expires
in May.
A. I have not been asked to leave
early. I am taking the leave accumulated
dur ing my
nearly three years in The
Hindustan Times. Let me add that the re-
lationship between the Birlas and me is
most cordial.
My
suspicion
is
that
it
was Sanjay Gandhiwho
got m e the job in The
Hindustan
Times.
1
1
Q. W as there political pressure on the
Birlas not to renew your contract?
A .That is m y
conjecture.
At the
same
time I have been quite obviously black-
listed
from radio
a n d T V ,
since around
the time of the last Cabinet reshuffle. Even
advertised programmes and
totally non-
political programmes like the
World
Of
Nature
series, which I have been told
had the
largest viewing, were cancelled
suddenly
and without any explanation.
Y ou
know nothing remains secret
in
India .
M y own
f r iends
i n A IR an d
Doordarshan told
m e
th a t instructions
had
come
not to
give
me so
much exposure.
Or
none
at
all.
Q.
Where
have these
instructions com e
from
?
A . T h a t I wo uldn t kno w. But quite
obviously they came from somebody close
to her
( Indira Gandhi)
or to the
set-up
They found m y views unpalatable for re-
asons best known to themselves and they
took the step. Even a programme liketh
Akal i
summit where without
a
do ubt
I
would
be one of the p ersons norm ally cal-
led,
I was
not. Small-minded people have
done it. But I can't pin-point the indi-
viduals. It would be unfair.
Q. Can you pin-point which of your
views wa s unpalatable ?
Som e feel your fal
from grace
is
because
of the
conservative
Birla s disapproval of your constant use o
titillating references.
A. Absolute rubbish. Birla has never
been annoyed with me. One of the con-
tradictions of
th is
is that he is
asking
me
to continue writing my column, which
they adm it is the most widely read colum n
and reproduced in
about
a dozen other
newspapers.
Q.
Then was it your selection of
Maneka as
Sanjay s
successor which wa s
unpalatable ?
A.I have been totally misquoted. Th
column you are referring to was written
immediately after Sanjay s death. I made a
conjecture and the interpretation has been
wrongly put . I did not say she was
Sanjay s
successor. I said she may
carr
on
Sanjay s man tle.
A t that
t ime Rajiv
had clearly
shown
that he had no
incli-
nation
for
politics. Maneka
was not
taken
seriously.
I only said she's not as namby-
pamby as most people imagine. There wa
a lot to her and
when driven
to it she ca
be like Durga on a tiger. But
that
this
should be interpreted that I was support
ing
Maneka
against Rajivor Rajiv agains
Maneka is an absolute fallacy. It is a tra-
gic state of
affairs
when, in a co untry of
700
million, people
are
being asked
to
choose between Maneka and Rajiv. Th
impression
ha s
been created
that
this
is all
we
have
to
choose from.
Q.
Then was the im pression that yo u
were
soft
on
Maneka
a major
reason
fo r
your rem oval?
I N D I A
T O D A Y ,
J N U R Y } [ lySj
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A .Don't put words in to my mouth . I
no
doubt that there
was a
certain
of
unhappiness amongs t
the po-
that be. And
suspect that this
is
the}
believe
to be my
s tand,
which is
should
be
such
smal l -minded people .
Q. With hindsight do you regret yo u
thatpiece'
A . I
don t regret writ ing
it. But it
cost
Q .
Can an editor of a
major
national
in
this
country
survive without
?
A. I
have n t compromised
and I
t survived.
And it is my
distinction
I
have
fallen
foul
of
successive
in fo rmat ion
and
broadcast ing,
the m isfortu ne to run the sta te-
had to blacklist
editor of an Indian nat ional dai ly
of his
boss
and the
boss
has the
One has to make except ions . For
in the
Anan da Bazar g roup the re
a m uch closer relat i onsh ip between the
and the
proprietor. Those
who own
don't
have that part i -
Q. H ow would yo u describe your re-
with the various newspaper ow -
yo u have worked with?
A . The re la t ions between th e Bir las
with th e Sa rkars of the A n a n d a
very cordial.
J a in s of the
Bennett ,
Co leman
the relat ionsh ip became foul only
the last stage. I have not the slightest
hat
the
Jains were pressurised
y
Desai or his son to dispe nse wit h
y
services
and I got it as
much
in
words
The
Ja ins paid
th e
price
r
bowing
to
pol i t ical pressure.
The
is
back
to
where
it was
T
took over.
And I
don t
th ink the
are as
much
to
b lame
as the
pro-
If you go on being mealy mou-
in every thing you do that is the re-
Y ou
have
to
t ake
a
very distinct line
really have to h ave a passion. 1
t h ink
m y
successors
had any
Q.
H ow would yo u rate your innings in
he Hindustan
Times?
You
haven't l f t
individual s tamp on the newspaper th e
yyou
di d
i nTh e
Illustrated
Wee kly.
A . N o
ed i tor
ca n
leave
h is
s tamp
on a
n a m e m y d is t inguished prede-
left no stamp on the paper. In
I left more stamp because I added
items.
Q. To
what extent
was
your appoint-
as
editor
of T he Hindustan Times due
to
your journalist ic credentials
and to
w h a t
degree was it to
your impeccable polit ical
connections?
A. A combinat ion of both . At tempts
were made
at one
t ime, which were
en-
tirely
political to
foist
me on the
Indian
Express It wasn t as if I had not made a
certain amount of name fo r myself.. .my
suspicion is that i t was Sanjay Gandhi
who got me the job in
The
Hindustan
Times
Q .
Som e feel that your 'Malice
Towards One And Al l '
column should
at
least
spare the
dead. Your remarks
on
Baburao Patel, Rajni Patel an d
Lala
Shri
R am
were
thought to be in bad taste.
A. I have no respect for the dead just
Aneditorof an
Indian national daily
can survive for long
only
if he
has
th e
supportof his
boss
and
the
boss
has
th e nerve.
because they are dead. I don't see how
just because a person has died he has ac-
quired some kind of sanctity. If a fellow is
a dubious type then th e best time to take
him on is
a f ter
he is
dead.
He
can't take
you to court.
I t s completely untru e that
the Shri Ram family was
offended
with
m y
observat ions .Charat
R am
roared with
laugh te r when he met me and
said: 'I'm
glad to
know
the old man had a
glad
eye'.
They don't know
how
to carry pornography.
I did it with finesse.
And
never a complaint
from th e court or the
Press
Council.
Q . Aren't you somewhat
iindiscriminat-
in g in the way you accept free trips from all
an d sundry?
A. I agree. If I get a
free
ticket to go
abroad I take it . I believe I never travelled
at the expense of either the Ja ins or the
Sarkars and only once at the expense of
the Birlas.
Q . Presumably
yo u
consider yourself
a
male chauvinist consideringyo u never
me n -
tion
a
w om a n
in
your column without
de-
scribing
h er
physical attributes
?
A. W hy does that make m e a chau-
vinis t? I am
very
pr o
women s l ib .
If I
find a
woman at t ract ive
I say so. I don't
make passes at them. I don't see men as
se x objects certainly.
Q. What was
your m ost rewarding
ex -
perience
in
journalism
?
A. My stay in The
Illustrated
Weekly
The
Weekly became
a
household word
dur ing my t enure .
Q.
But
T he
Illustrated Weekly flour-
ished at a time
when there
was no
rea
competi t ion.
Today's magazines are far
more professional
an d
competit ive. Could
you repeat your success ?
A. I could
beat
the hell out of them.
They haven t
a
clue.
Q. A clue to what?
A.
They don't know
how to carry
pornography.
I did it
with
f inesse. And
never a complaint from th e
.court
or the
Press Counci l .
I
didn't
go
fo r
hammy
th ings .
M y
captions carried
more
infor-
mation than their
pictures.
Q.
Was the
controversial Hindustan
Times Sunday Weekly
on
Pakistan last
November wi thdrawn
fo r
circulation after
you had clearedit ?
A. I did not
clear
it as I was
away
in
Paris. But I did find it objectionable. The
introductory caption
was
unfortunate .
It
said that while the ling uistic and religious
minori t ies are always airing their grie-
vances here, in Pakista n the m inor ities are
happy. T he comparison w as odious.
Q. What is the
role
of the newspaper
in India?
A.
The
role
of the
newspapers
in this
country
is
very limited.
It is
s trictly
a
met-
ropoli tan phenomenon
and
even there
it
has a
very restricted impact. Except
that
th e ruling class comes from th e newspaper
reading section and therefore gives it
much greater importance than it deserves.
Q.
Do you think
that newspapers
in
India "should play th e role of the
Opposition ?
A. I
th ink
it
should play
th e
role
of
the
Opposition.
The Government controls
the news agencies,
th e
entire mass media
and all
that .
And if the
press doesn t pre-
sent
th e
Opposi t ion point
of
view, which
it
doesn t ,
w i th th e
exception
of the
Indian
Express
and
someothers,
who
will?
Q. H ow susceptible are
Indian
jour-
nalists topressures?
A. Enormously susceptible. It is my
personal experience and of my own col-
leagues that bribery
and
corruption
are
there. One gets to know about it only
when the
report
is s lanted .
There
isdamn
al l
you can do about it .
T O D A Y , J A N U A R Y 3 1 , 1983
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