The experiences bestowed by Kanchi-Mahaswami — Part 43 : Rise of a star — Arun Shourie
https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/ninaithu_paarkiraen_25_08_2021.php
Author : Sri S.Gurumurthy
Translator : C.Rangarajan
The arrival of Arun Shourie had created a major upheaval in the Indian print media. The previous generation readers will be able to appreciate its role. Arun was working in the world bank as an economic advisor and came back to India during the emergency period. He was in touch with the leaders of the opposition and got introduced to Goenka. Among the intelligentsia, he was famous for his razor-sharp intellect and powerful writing.
Through my friends, I came to know about him. When Indira claimed power back in 1980, Goenka introduced Arun Shourie to the print media and made him an executive editor. Though we had brief acquaintances, our relationship got strengthened.
Just like the way I was identified as the twin of Goenka, people started calling us twins. We first worked in the Indian express building case. Along with him, the concept of Investigative journalism arrived in India. His sharp-incisive writing changed the then prevailing trend in journalism. It had its attraction. Within a short period, a huge fan base was formed.
In 1985, when I became an accidental journalist, boh Mulgaonkar & Shourie became my guiding spirits. For hard-hitting articles, I was following Shourie’s method & for the softer one, I was following Mulgaonkar’s. With the experience derived due to my association with them, I create a niche space for myself in the journalistic world.
The changes brought by Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie was blessed with extraordinary intellect, courage & blessings of Mother Saraswathi created many political earthquakes in two years. The path defined by Shourie elevated the quality of journalism. His brand of journalism left an imprint in the history of Express & Indian journalism. His investigative journalism propelled the Indian express to the top spot and enabled the country to discuss the problems presented by it. The issues reached the courts and were discussed widely in the assemblies and parliament. It made the ministers & CMs resign. Politicians and in particular, the congress leaders were trembling.
In the 1980s, Indira was at the peak of her powers and every authority was afraid of her. Shourie made his entry during that period. Goenka was the only one who waged war against Indira and Shourie became his sword. Shourie encouraged the young journalists, guided them in identifying a potential issue, and made them investigate thoroughly. He encouraged them to face the threats and created an army that sniffed for the Truth.
He taught them to identify a lead, how to investigate, how to search for evidence, how to build an essay with the details on hand, and when to publish them. Both Goenka & Shourie would reach out to me on how to create an impact in the politics and legal aspects related to that. We were planning together. That experience helped me very much in exposing the scandals of Ambani and Bofors. Shourie did not stop by exposing the corruption. Through his brilliant writing, he helped to garner the attention of courts, parliament, intellectuals, and others.
Anthulay’s cement scam
Between 1980 & 1982, the scams exposed by the Indian Express and its writing on the socio-political issues were widely discussed & shook the country. It was a perfect byproduct of courageous journalism and catapulted Shourie’s fame & the newspaper influence to the Himalayan heights. The whole country was wondering at the clout of the paper. Shourie became a hero.
In August 1981, Anthulay, the CM of Maharashtra and close to Indira had deposited the cement corruption money in a trust that was operated in the name of Indira. Shourie exposed it with evidence. At that time, there was a restriction on cement and the state government was managing the cement quota. In a hard-hitting article, “Indira Gandhi as commerce”, he gave the details of the people who got the cement quota, how much bribe was paid for each bag, and the details of the transactions related to Indira Gandhi Prathiba Pakistan. It creates a huge ripple in the Maharashtra assembly, the government, and the parliament.
Indian Express also released Anthulay’s note that gave out the details of the corruption. There was a huge uproar in the parliament and the then finance minister, R.Venkataraman mentioned that Indira was not aware of the transaction. On the next day, the paper published a photo of Indira & Anthulay signing the agreement and titled it, “Small-time Liar Venkataraman”. The whole nation laughed at this. Express & Shourie were surging ahead. The journals that were supporting Indira were confused. Cho went one step ahead and with a large heart published a picture of him garlanding Shourie.
Somehow, Indira managed the issue in the parliament with brute force. But, we did not slow down. Four of us, Goenka, Shourie, Jethmalani, and I had decided to file a court case against Anthulay. Mumbai BJP leader, Ramdas Naik file a case in the high court. The supreme court ordered them to file an FIR against Anthulay and subsequently, he resigned in Jan 1982. It turned out to be a huge victory for us and a big defeat for Indira. In that process, we had to pay a heavy price. Anthulay unleashed the dangerous trade union leader Datta Samant on us. Express had to lockdown itself for 3 months.
Exposure of cruel legal, social crimes
In 1981–82, Express exposed social evils that shook the people. In the Bihar prison, 31 prisoners were blinded by the police officers, who carved out the eyes of the prisoners and poured acid. This was exposed by us. Express wrote that the police behaved like the judge, jury, and executioner. It was denied by the Bihar CM but belied by the evidence published by us. The police officers were punished by the court.
The next issue that was taken up by the express also created a huge uproar. Thousands of accused were rotting in Bihar’s prisons with their cases dragging for years. Some of them overstayed beyond the normal period of punishment. Some case details vanished forever. The lady prisoners were raped by the police officers and male prisoners. The Indian Express came out with complete details on how the cases were decided without taking them to the courts. Again, this also was picked up by the court. The judges ordered to close all the cases in 90 days. Due to this 40,000 people were released. It boosted the name of express, further.
Express engaged in flesh trade
In an unimaginable way, Express exposed the flesh trade racket too. Our report Aswini Sareen wrote about the flesh trade at Morina, MP. How to expose the secret trade? Shourie wanted the express to buy one girl. When we explored the legal angles, we were warned by the lawyers. Shourie was hell-bent on doing it and devised a way. He sent a lady with the reporter Sareen to buy a woman. Before doing that, he had sent a letter to 5 prominent people include two supreme court judges. The reporters went and bought a woman for Rs. 2500 (~). Then, it was published in the paper and a request was sent to the supreme court. Again, this became a debating point in the whole nation. The courts ordered the government to take action and this nasty practice was abolished.
Caught between two volcanoes
With his talent and writing, Shourie created a niche for himself in society, political circles, and intelligentsia. His sharp intellect was matched by Goenka’s intelligence. Goenka’s courage was many more times than Shourie’s and both were known for their extremely short temper. Goenka becomes a raging bull when he gets extremely emotional. So was Shourie. Both were of the same type and were like volcanoes. Though Goenka owned the paper, Shouri as an executive editor was extremely popular. This brought its own set of problems.
It helped me to understand the type of problems that fame brings in and was very useful when the same fame sought me in 1987. In the 1980s, I started with the role of a legal consultant. After the arrival of Shourie, Goenka made me participate in the policies of the paper, appointment/removal of editors & journalists, and other matters. I was 31 years of age at that time and it created a problem for me. George Varghese, who was Express’ editor in 1980 said, “ Gurumuthy who was Goenka’s legal consultant became his close confidante in all areas (“Warrior of the Fourth Estate, Ramnath Goenka of the Express” by BG Verghese, Page 178).
I was sandwiched between potential volcanoes. In 1980, both were very intimate with each other. It turned around in 30 months. By Oct 1982, they became staunch rivals. Shourie resigned from the Indian express. I took up the job of mediation between them. Again, Shourie was made the editor of the paper, when we took on the mighty combination of Ambani & the Indian government. He rejoined in 1987 and held the post till 1989. Again, I got the hot job of mediating between them.
