Journalism of Courage
A S Dulat’s relationship with Kashmir is as old as militancy itself. He has been a witness to and participant in major events in the Valley for two decades, first as head of IB from 1988-90 and then as the man in charge of the K-group. After becoming R&AW chief, he was actively involved in Kashmir and was eventually picked up by Vajpayee as his point-person in the Valley. His latest book, Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years, is an insider’s account of the events that transpired in those turbulent times. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
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In this Idea Exchange, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke about his equations with RBI, Gujarat’s anti-terrorism law, the opposition to the land Bill, and explained where India’s Daughter went wrong. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
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As minister in charge of the key portfolio of environment, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar has often had to counter the charge that the ministry has gone from being “roadblock ministry” under UPA to “clearance ministry” under NDA. The launch of an air quality index and Cabinet clearance to a law to manage an afforestation fund are some of the things that kept Javadekar’s ministry in the news. As the NDA government completed one year in office, Javadekar’s were among the most visible faces highlighting the Centre’s achievements and taking on critics. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
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Durrani was the National Security Advisor to the Pakistan government at the time of 26/11. He was the first in the establishment to admit, on a TV channel, that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani citizen. He was immediately sacked after this admission. An Armyman who went on to serve as a diplomat, Durrani is no stranger to controversies. Once a military secretary to former Army chief and president General Zia-ul-Haq, he was for long considered a suspect in the plane crash that killed Haq. He also served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the US. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
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Nayantara Sahgal, renowned writer and niece of Jawaharlal Nehru, returned the Sahitya Akademi award she had won in 1986 for her political novel Rich Like Us. In an open letter, she said she was returning the award “in memory of the Indians who have been murdered, in support of all Indians who uphold the right to dissent”. Citing the murders of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and anti-superstition activists Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, besides the lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri over rumours that he ate beef, Sahgal criticised the Prime Minister for remaining “silent about this reign of terror”. Always opposed to authoritarianism, Sahgal fell out with her cousin Indira Gandhi at the time of the Emergency. Her writings have been critical of both the BJP’s Hindutva politics as well as the dynastic rule in the Congress. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
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As the Country Director for World Bank India since 2012, Onno Ruhl has now seen both the UPA and NDA governments in action. He was also the director for operations in the South Asia Region earlier, and has held positions in East and Central Asia as well as Africa. Ruhl served as the country director for Nigeria and manager for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A Dutch national, he has been the lead private and financial sector development specialist in Africa and Europe and helped create the African Trade Insurance Agency. (Express Photo)
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Pahlaj Nihalani, a film producer and distributor, was appointed the chairman of Central Board of Film Certification of India in January 2015. Since then, he has been at the centre of several controversies. Of late, he has been facing criticism over his video that eulogises Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the cuts in the kissing scenes of the latest James Bond movie Spectre. (Express photo by Prashant Nadkar)
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Union Minister for Telecommunications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad is spearheading the government’s move to make telecommunications more consumer-friendly. His ministry was in the news for blocking 857 porn websites briefly and is at the centre of the net neutrality debate. As key spokesperson of the government, Prasad has been at the forefront of the NDA’s attacks on the Gandhis. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
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Rajinder Kumar Dhawan, a member of the Congress Working Committee, started out as Indira Gandhi’s personal assistant. He was with her from 1962, until the day she was assassinated in 1984. Dhawan was also a part of her innermost circle during the Emergency years (1975-77). Along with Ambika Soni and Kamal Nath, Dhawan was among the key characters of that period. Now, 40 years later, he is working on a book on Indira Gandhi, which, he says, will “reveal a lot”. (Express photo by Oinam Anand)
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Shoojit Sircar is among the contemporary crop of filmmakers who are redefining Indian cinema. Known to push the envelope, his movie Piku, which showed an unconventional relationship between a father and a daughter while dealing with a subject such as constipation, did well commercially and won critical acclaim too. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
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