Citizen RNG

gust 1942 the National Herald suspended publication. Within days the Express and, later, others, followed suit. An Express editorial captioned 8216;We Shall Wait for the Dawan8217; gave notice of closure from 19 August which day8217;s issue carried one of the most powerful Express editorials of all time, entitled Heart-Strings and Purse-Strings:

8220;We do not want to detail to the public the gagging orders that we have received. Suffice it to say that we cannot publish news relating to our leaders, to the Congress movement, or relating to anything for that matter, unless it is contained in a Government communique or in a report from a registered correspondent blessed by the District Magistrate. It would be nothing less than a fraud on the public for us to send out a paper containing just that and nothing more.

8220;Personal interest and the motives of gain, which, according to British economists, are the only things that influence the ordinary human being, dictate to us that we should carry on this paper under the only conditions under which we can carry it on, that is, obeying the restrictive orders. But political economy fails in the face of impressions and events which we cannot forget if we are to live a thousand years. We cannot believe that the same desire for freedom does not exist in the minds of our people as we are told it does in the minds of the Icelanders and Laplanders. The human race is said to be fighting for its freedom; what avail is it to us unless it includes the freedom of our country?8230; The hard fact of the situation is that if we went on publishing, the Indian Express may be called a paper, but cannot be a newspaper.8221;

The message was unequivocal. The only solution the Express saw was for the government to release the Mahatma and concede the national demand8230;

Many nationalist figures had gone underground to escape the police dragnet, notable among them members of the youthful Congress Socialist group. Jayaprakash Narayan came to Madras after escaping from Hyderabad jail. The authorities got scent of his movements and a friendly police contact told RNG he 8216;smelt8217; something and would like to search his house and when would it be convenient to do so? RNG invited him over at 5 pm but had JP booked to travel by train with a Tamil lady as man and wife, and had him immediately put on a train to Bombay from an adjacent station. RNG played a dual role, publishing his newspapers even as he churned out subversive literature and supplied arms, safe haven and a contact point for the Congress underground8230;

Narrating his past in an affidavit filed before the Shah Commission in 1977, RNG was to say:

8220;In 1942, I was put in charge of the 8216;Quit India8217; movement in South India and8230; came into contact with all the leaders who were underground. Most8230; including Jaya-prakash Narayan, were under my shelter.

8220;In accordance with the wishes of Mr Philips, the then personal representative of President Roosevelt, I surreptitiously edited and published a book called 8216;India Ravaged8217; giving details of all the atrocities committed by the British Government in the 1942 movement. This book was banned but was in great demand at an underground document8230; I was also an author of a proscribed book, 8216;Quit India8217;, which created a sensation all over the world.8221;

Aruna Asaf Ali, Achyut Patwardhan and R.R. Diwakar were among the leading nationalists whom RNG shepherded from one safe house to another.

C. Subramaniam recalls directing the Coimbatore district Congress underground cadres in 1942, many of them textile workers, who were actively engaged in sabotage. A train was derailed and a military airfield attacked. The saboteurs then had to be secreted away in their villages and kept in funds. Knowing of RNG8217;s association with the movement in Madras, Subramaniam went to seek his assistance at the Express office in Mount Road. There, to his astonishment, he was led to some basement cupboards stacked with proscribed literature, crude bombs, explosives, fuses and other incendiary wherewithal.

Earlier, before Quit India, Sardar Patel had taunted RNG for his failure to make Madras too hot for the British. How should he do that, RNG inquired. By poisoning wells, the Sardar replied. Shocked by this advocacy of violence, RNG asked whether the Sardar had Gandhi8217;s clearance. Not satisfied with his affirmation, a troubled RNG thought he should check this directly with the Mahatma. So he travelled to Wardha and posed the problem to Bapu, who replied enigmatically, 8220;If you believe in non-violence you would not have come to me.8221; Interpreting the statement as a go-ahead signal, RNG returned home. During the ensuing 1942 movement, RNG supplied the necessary chemicals to Aruna Asaf Ali and others to poison some water sources. The amateur conspirators mixed the deadly ingredients with poultry feed and gave it to some unsuspecting chicken to test its efficacy only to discover, somewhat sheepishly, that the birds enjoyed the repast!8230;

Freedom8217;s Messenger
KAMARAJ, a rising Congress star in the Madras firmament, owed much to RNG, who cultivated him and introduced him to the elites of Mylapore and kept him in funds. RNG was induced by the Marwari community to stand for the Madras Corporation from Sowcarpet against Balasundaram, a Scheduled Caste candidate, in 1938, but there is no evidence that he actually contested the poll. However, Kamaraj used his influence to get RNG nominated to the Constituent Assembly in 1946, where he supported an amendment placing 8220;taxes on sale or purchase of newspapers and on advertisements published therein8221; in the Union List. This was adopted and incorporated as Entry 92 in the Seventh Schedule. He had formally graduated to national politics. His signature is recorded on the last page of the ornate, 8216;illuminated8217; copy of the Constitution of India that was signed by all Members on 26 November 1949, along with those of Feroze Gandhi, Harekrushna Mahtab, Jerome D8217;Souza and Sunder Lall8230;

Independence dawned on 15 August 1947. The Express editorial said the historic day 8220;marks the close of an old era and the beginning of a new age. For Asia, it gives a new leader, a new outlook. For the world, it gives a new idea and a new method.8221; After paying tribute to the Father of the Nation, it called for unity, peace and service: 8220;Every Indian must live for India just as India must live for all. To adapt great words for a great occasion, India expects every man to do his duty.8221; A special Express supplement carried Nehru8217;s message, 8216;A New Star Rises in the East,8217; echoing the moving 8216;Tryst with Destiny8217; oration that he delivered the previous night at the stroke of the midnight hour.

Madras rejoiced, as did all of India. The Express reported the event on 17 August under a two-deck caption, 8216;Vindication of Trust and Non-Violence; Mr Goenka on Significance of Independence Day.8217; This was perhaps the first and last time that RNG allowed his newspapers to treat any of his activities as news or carry his photograph except in respect of parliamentary proceedings or if he was acting in a representative capacity.

India was to become a Republic on 26 January 1950. The question arose as to who should become the country8217;s first President. Rajagopalachari, as the first Indian Governor General, was a logical choice and favoured by Nehru. Others saw Rajendra Prasad, who had presided over the Constituent Assembly, as the appropriate candidate. Nehru was troubled and wrote to Patel on 15 September 1949:

8220;I am told that active and vigorous canvassing has taken place on this subject and there is a large majority who favour Rajendra Babu. The Biharis, of course, are in it, the Andhras, and a good number of the Tamils. Then generally the protagonists of Hindi favour Rajendra Babu8230; This is not merely a question of favouring Rajendra Babu, but rather of deliberately keeping Rajaji out. One of the most active agents in this business is Goenka.8221;

RNG thought Rajendra Prasad was more of a mass leader and Rajagopalachari had rocked the boat in 1942. In the event, Prasad was elected.

Premonition, in 1974
RNG had sensed a looming national crisis and JP as the one man who might save India. He turned to him, as he had to Gandhi at the time of the freedom struggle. It is far from certain that he agreed entirely with JP8217;s philosophy or manner of struggle or Total Revolution, an inchoate concept to his practical mind. But this was war and not the time to ask questions, but to do or die. The Express teleprinter network enabled JP to keep in touch with his lieutenants and monitor events.

It was not long before Indira Gandhi hit back. In a public address in Bhubaneshwar on 1 April 1974, she said, 8220;those taking money from the rich have no right to talk about corruption.8221; This was a jibe against JP8217;s enjoying RNG8217;s support and hospitality, about which the CPI was blunt and scathing. It was rumoured that a harried PM might call a snap election8230;

Meanwhile, another scandal surfaced in 1974 with regard to the activities of a Congress MP, Tulmohan Ram, who was found to have committed forgery to secure import licences for some Pondicherry businessmen. L.N. Mishra, minister for railways and until then one of Indira Gandhi8217;s trusted lieutenants, was also under pressure for his alleged part in this murky business. Stormy debates followed in Parliament and the government was hauled over the coals day after day. Indira Gandhi was charged with protecting Tulmohan Ram and generally shielding corruption. Gujarat remained tense and the JP movement was gathering momentum. The government was reeling under the onslaught and an agitated prime minister arraigned her MPs for not coming to her aid by aggressively turning the heat on the Opposition.

K.P. Unnikirshnan, a Congress MP from Kerala, whose family was well known to RNG, had gone to see her when she started talking about JP, Goenka and the Indian Express teaming up against her. Unnikrishnan took the hint but said he would have to get evidence on the basis of which he could go on the offensive. The material was provided. It came from the CBI, the finance ministry, the company law department and other sources. Since this was confidential material and could have attracted attention under the Official Secrets Act, Unnikrishnan passed on some of it to the Patriot, which ran a sensational front-page story on 4 December 1974. The wire services and other newspapers immediately picked it up. The mechanism for the counteroffensive against Goenka and JP, whose names were linked to a conspiracy against democracy and stability, was a privilege motion in the Lok Sabha. Congress and Leftist members led the assault8230;

RNG heard out his traducers over two days of tumultuous proceedings in December 1974, and then rose to reply. He said that the wild allegations levelled against him did not pertain to a period when he was an MP nor did they relate to the conduct of an MP. The motions moved against him were therefore patently untenable and unsustainable and were clearly 8220;part of a campaign of calumny and vilification against me which is entirely politically motivated8221;. Moreover, the motions were based on only one ground, namely, that a prima facie case had been established against him in the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate, Madras. This claim, however, had absolutely no foundation. In fact, the Court had rejected the prosecution8217;s plea for committal. Both the Patriot and the CBI, on whose press release it had relied, were 8220;guilty of suppressio veri and suggestio falsi8221;.

Darkest Days
Much has been written about the ordeals of the Express during the Emergency. The story is best told in RNG8217;s own words. The government, acting under the directions of Indira Gandhi, abused its authority and subverted lawful processes, RNG said, 8220;to liquidate me and my group of companies economically and to make me an object of public ridicule and shame.8221; One of the prime minister8217;s first acts on 26 June 1975 was to remove her mild-mannered and democratically inclined information minister, I.K. Gujral, and replace him with V.C. Shukla, who she thought would better serve her Goebbelsian design.

A month later, at a meeting presided over by the prime minister, it was decided that the question of inquiring into the Express Group of Newspapers and Ramanath Goenka8217;s industrial empire was to be given immediate attention by the Department of Company Affairs and Ministry of Law and necessary action taken in regard to irregularities and illegal transfers of funds to non-journalistic ventures from the profits of the newspapers.

Indeed, attempts had been made even in 1972 to gain control of the Express Group by unilaterally appointing two government directors on its board for a period of two years. The Bombay High Court subsequently annulled the order in 1974 with strictures against the government. However, government directors continued to be on the Andhra Prabha board, and they moved the Company Law Board to state that Goenka retained a majority, enabling him to exercise effective management control over his Hyderabad and related groups of papers. Quite evidently, the government was seeking management and editorial control over the Express.

With the declaration of the Emergency, C. Subramaniam, finance minister, informed RNG that Mrs Gandhi had asked him to inquire whether he would be prepared to sell his papers 8220;to the Congress Party or its nominees8221;. Nothing came of this, but harassment increased. Pressure was applied through the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission. The Express filed a writ through V.M. Tarkunde, the great civil rights advocate. This defiance infuriated the government, which vented its spleen through the Press Information Bureau and AIR, its captive mouthpieces.

The Congress president, D.K. Barooah, and the Bombay Congress chief, Rajni Patel, then informed Shreyans Prasad Jain that the government planned to detain B.D. Goenka and his wife, Saroj, and possibly also RNG, under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act, because of the Express8217;s inimical policies. Shreyans Prasad sought Rajni Patel8217;s intervention. He in turn consulted the prime minister and concluded that the only solution lay in RNG parting with control over his papers. The warning was blatant and brutal. This was communicated to S. Ranganathan, the retired ICS official, who sought to intervene. BD was summoned by V.C. Shukla and told in no uncertain manner that failure to comply would be visited by punitive tax and other harsh measures. A tax demand of Rs 4 crore was mentioned. The instruments of torture were being readied.

In the circumstances, an anguished RNG wrote to Ranganathan within two months of the Emergency, stating that he had taken a decision in principle to part with his newspapers.

8220;It is not an easy decision for me to take. These newspapers have been my life8217;s work. I have built them up over 43 years and have made the organisation the largest in India with a circulation of about a million copies a day. Ordinarily one has to wait for centuries to achieve this circulation in a country like India. Even century-old newspapers here with all their patronage and resources have not been able to achieve anything like this, and therefore it is very difficult for me to make up my mind to accept the proposal made by Shri Patel. A decision like this is something like my parting with my own son.

8220;Apart from my personal and emotional reactions in coming to this decision, I have been persuaded by the fact that I am now 71 years old and my powers to resist the demands of the Ruling Party, especially at the present time, is almost negligible. I would like to die in peace if possible and would also like to see that the members of my family are not visited with repercussions of my actions, real or imaginary.8221;

It was at this point that BD approached K.K. Birla, the industrialist and son of G.D. Birla, a respected family friend, who claimed he was 8220;well placed to assist8221;8230; RNG was clearly playing for time. Here unfolding was a cat and mouse game par excellence.

At the end of much discussion, RNG agreed to an 11-member board of directors, five nominated by him and the rest in consultation with him from a panel of names put forward by the government with K.K. Birla as chairman.

In the Eye of Reprisal
The PIB issued a series of elaborate press notes. The very first was headed 8220;Large scale tax evasion and fraud by industrial tycoon and newspaper king8221;. RNG filed for contempt of court proceedings in Madras. His rebuttals sent to AIR and Samachar the offspring of the government8217;s forced amalgamation and virtual takeover of PTI, UNI and the two smaller Hindi news agencies were not carried. The Congress raised the matter in the rump Parliament and pre-censorship was imposed on the Express Group under the Defence and Internal Security of India Rules on 16 August 1976. The result, as mentioned in RNG8217;s affidavit before the Shah Commission: 8220;Release of pages for printing, after censorship, was deliberately delayed at all eight centres, indicating that the whole manoeuvre was part of an overall design to prevent the said newspaper being brought out in time, or at all, thereby in fact and in reality crippling and/or stopping the Group companies8217; activities, causing immense loss and hardship.8221;

The Express filed a writ in the Bombay High Court. The government found its case unsustainable and quietly rescinded its pre-censorship order on 30 September. Simultaneously, there was a denial of government advertising and pressure was applied on public sector undertakings and private advertising agencies and large advertisers not to release advertisements to the Express Group. The Express filed another writ in Bombay but the government withdrew these instructions in one of its very last acts in office after its thundering electoral defeat in March 1977.

Previously, speaking at a press conference in Cochin, Indira Gandhi was reported as saying that there was nothing unethical in government discriminating against some newspapers: 8220;Why should we support the newspapers of industrialists and big business8230; Customs and traditions have to be discarded. This is like asking us to also give them the stick to beat us with.8221; That was typical of the times. At the start of the Emergency, the prime minister had torn up the AIR Code, saying, 8220;What is credibility? We are the Government.8221;

In October 1976, officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi , accompanied by a police posse, forcibly seized and sealed the Express8217;s press on the ground that municipal taxes were in arrears. The MCD8217;s levy of higher taxes was in dispute and Express had a stay order from the Delhi High Court. The seizure of its press was therefore completely arbitrary and in contempt of court8230;

The government juggernaut kept rolling. The Punjab National Bank was instructed not to advance monies for the purchase of newsprint or for working capital. This was the last straw. RNG was ill. Birla called the AGM. He did not expect the ailing Goenka to be present and was surprised to see him there. Under the rules, the appointment of government directors and the chairman was required to be ratified by the shareholders within a given period. This had been overlooked. All powers therefore reverted to RNG. He summarily dismissed the board. The old fox had outwitted the lot of them!

Unfettered, At Last
THE day Mrs Gandhi announced a general election, RNG knew deliverance was at hand. Only one hurdle remained. Mrs Gandhi had to be defeated. If she were re-elected, that would be the end. But now there was jubilation. The tide had turned. Mrs Gandhi had blinked. Opposition leaders began to be released in March and gathered in Delhi at JP8217;s instance to take stock of the situation. There was a shortage of time and money. Party organisations were in disarray. RNG was indefatigable in helping stitch together a common Opposition front that became the Janata Party. This process had been assisted by the fact that leaders of various political parties had been incarcerated together, enabling them to get to know one another and smooth over programmatic and even some ideological differences. JP8217;s guidance was critical as he represented the national consensus.

There was a backdrop to these events. Once elections were announced, censorship, though not actually withdrawn until a couple of months later, was reduced to something of a formality. The Express was quick off the block and, notwithstanding risk of an official backlash, sent out its correspondents and commissioned writers to reconstruct the excesses of the Emergency. What followed was a narrative of ignominy and shame, and of brutal manipulation of the organs of state by a small, depraved coterie to negate freedom, democracy and justice. The group8217;s papers methodically set out to probe and sift what lay behind the veil that had shrouded the country over the past 19 dark months8230;

RNG remained furiously active behind the scenes throughout the ensuing election campaign. Sceptics thought the Congress majority might at best be blunted. The result was a landslide everywhere but in the South. The Congress was decimated and its top leadership totally cast aside. The Express editorial of 21 March 1977 called on all to 8216;Respect the Verdict8217;:

8220;After the gruelling ordeal of the past two years and the bitter contest at the polls, the country must enter a new era of peace and orderly progress. This means that the harsh legacy of the Emergency must be forgotten by both sides. Admittedly there have been faults on each side and there is no point in harbouring ill will or rancour. There is no need for witch hunting or for acting in a vindictive spirit. The wounds caused in the past must be healed quickly so that no scars are left behind. It is in a true Gandhian spirit that the parties should act so that a new cooperative approach to the nation8217;s formidable problems may be possible. In a democratic election, there are no victors or vanquished.8221;

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