Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It started with an innocuous story idea. The Cabinet had granted land and building for Lal Bahadur Shastri8217;s memorial. We decided to check whether there were more such memorials operating out of government land.
Finally a bureaucrat pointed out the right person and gave us his number. The man in question agreed to take down our number only after repeated calls. He called after a nerve-wracking week. Let8217;s meet, he said, within an hour near a much-frequented temple. What clothes would the reporter would be wearing? The car? Its registration number?
Come the D-Day, I called my editor and asked him to call 15 minutes after the appointed time to check if everything was okay. As security whatever little, I even took along my kids and their aged maid to raise a ruckus in case things went awry.
|
We tried to dig out more from the Urban Development Ministry but a single innocent question on land availability and allocation in the recent past alerted them. Everyone clammed up |
I parked my car next to the temple. Seconds turn into minutes, minutes into half-an-hour. No sign. The grumbling kids were packed off with the maid to visit one temple after another. The boss forgot to call. Suddenly a well-dressed person appeared and motioned me to follow him into neighbouring bylanes.
I talked cautiously as the man could be one of the beneficiaries of the ministry8217;s land largesse. Then, an even better-dressed man got out of a car and joined the conversation. He wanted to know how I had known whom to contact. They have the list but won8217;t give it unless the name of the source is divulged. Suddenly, the boss called on the mobile. That alarmed the men further.
Since I refused to divulge the name of my source, the deal was closed. Each side walked to his car. I drove the kids to a nearby shopping arcade and bought them some chocolate, terribly disappointed.
While I was paying, I got a call on my mobile. It was from the well-dressed men. They asked me to come back to the same spot. I raced away. The shopkeeper did not have any change, but there was no time.
Back to the same place. There were now three men, all smiling. The senior among them took out the list from the car and instructed that any queries be directed to Mr. X who would call back rather than take our call. We said goodbye and I drove away.
|
Fallout: ALLOTMENTS ON HOLD
|
|
Shastriji8217;s memorial is still awaiting Cabinet clearance to get funds for a one-time facelift and an annual maintenance. |
