Madhu Trehan questions the integrity of journalism in her new book, Tehelka as Metaphor. Aditi Sharma quizzed her on the aftermath of Operation West End
Madhu Trehan questions the integrity of journalism in her new book, Tehelka as Metaphor. Aditi Sharma quizzed her on the aftermath of Operation West End
In March 2001, website Tehelka (now a weekly magazine) publishedu00a0 Operation West End, the story that exposed the corrupt face of Indian politics. Spycam footage recorded by the Tehelka team, made it clear that army officers, politicians and bureaucrats were equally vulnerable to the lure of cash and sex.
In a rigorously researched and searingly authentic account of the Tehelka exposu00e9 and its aftermath, entrepreneur-journalist Madhu Trehan does a forensic study of the imperatives at the root of it, the characters, heroes, villians of the story, and of how the system bounced back. Through Tehelka as Metaphor, Trehan delves into the lives of the many characters that were involved in the sting operation that changed the face of Indian media. The sting also changed the lives of everyone who was part of this operation: Tarun Tejpal, the face ofu00a0 Tehelka, and former BJP President Bangaru Laxman and company. Trehan uses the book to evaluate the changing dynamics of news coverage as it is today, and the aspirations of a middle class struggling to embrace the modernity that's been thrust on it. The book launches in the city today at Olive Bar and Kitchen,u00a0 Mahalaxmi.
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As one book reviewer wrote: "...Tehelka's story is a journey into the heart of the darkness that lies beneath the shining lights of the new India." It is a frightening precedent if the state can destroy innocent people, meticulously using instruments of democracy without any footprints. It happens to thousands in India and it is not documented. People in some way are made to disappear, not physically but metaphorically, because they are powerless.
Has Operation West End has served as a deterrent to other media houses?
Some stings that have been undertaken in the past cannot be considered good journalism, or journalism at all. They discredited the profession. We, as journalists, have to regulate ourselves. Our credibility should be our USP, and a reader/viewer should be able to suspend interpretation when presented with a story. Right now, for every story that you see/read, your first reaction is to figure out which political party or business house planted it.
What lessons have we learnt from Operation West End?
Because we turn our face away when the state or politicians are involved in the destruction of individuals, it gives them power to do it again. We become oblivious to injustice and believe there is no recourse for citizens. We have to find ways to fight it. Tomorrow, it could be you.
We seem intimidated by all things modern. We are succumbing to "American Individualism" and greed, and our social fabric is damaged by the epidemic of rape, murder and dishonesty. Our sense of responsibility for our country is fading. Since the Mumbai, siege there has been a revival of involvement. We have to find ways to keep the pressure on.
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