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Stories of ‘national interest’ in black and white
Shekhar Gupta, former editor-in-chief of the Indian Express and now editorial advisor for India Today group, is well known for his writings about Operation Bluestar, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War, LTTE camps, and Walk the Talk, an interview programme on NDTV 24x7.
At the ‘Anticipating India – The best of National Interest’ reading session, noted journalist Shekhar Gupta, narrated inside stories that prompted this famous column ‘National Interest and shared his experiences of meeting eminent personalities
Shekhar Gupta, former editor-in-chief of the Indian Express and now editorial advisor for India Today group, is well known for his writings about Operation Bluestar, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War, LTTE camps, and Walk the Talk, an interview programme on NDTV 24x7. At a book reading session at Hotel Taj Krishna on Wednesday, Shekhar read from his book ‘Anticipating India – The Best of National Interest’. N Kiran Kumar Reddy, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, graced the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion N Kiran Kumar Reddy lamented the lack of serious debate on any issue of state or national importance either in the Assembly or the Parliament.
In November 1997, Shekhar Gupta began a column called National Interest in the Indian Express which gained a wide readership. Featured in the book is a collection of these columns on many different topics like the Ruchika Girhotra case to the December 2012 gang rape in Delhi; the state of affairs during the Congress government regime to the rise of Narendra Modi.
Speaking at the launch, Shekhar Gupta felt that it was very important to believe in the democratic system of governance, and changes if any should be constantly made within the system. He expressed happiness that democracy in India always brought about the much needed change in the leaders who become decision makers and looked forward to politics of development.
“Being a diverse country, it is the responsibility of every citizen of the country to exercise his right to vote and constantly contribute towards the policy making in the country,” Gupta said.He narrated a few of his experiences with some politicians like PV Narasimha Rao, Giani Zail Singh, Sitaram Kesari, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, NT Rama Rao, Chandrababu Naidu and YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
“A politician in India invariably is always on the tenterhooks as far as his seat of power is concerned and never has any permanent role, responsibility or salary. It is a big fluid responsibility, which could either make them a hero or a zero,” he said.
