On Arnab Goswami

There are many things about Arnab Goswami that I dislike more than the things that I like about him, but the way things took a course this morning is deplorable. I was utterly shocked when I learnt about the manner in which he was arrested. I don't think it'd be wise to comment upon a case which was filed two years ago and closed subsequently as I am unaware of the facts of the matter and there could be more to the substance than what is apparent, but I do feel that motives of the law enforcement agency need to be questioned given the timing and the manner.I was around fifteen or perhaps sixteen years of age when Arnab first made an impression upon me as he was fighting for Indian students living in America who happened to have been admitted into a university which was part of some big scam. The students were tied with a collar by their ankle to keep a track of their movement. Arnab, being his usual self, lashed out at the treatment the students were given. I could find my own rage being reflected in his.

The more I watched Arnab thereafter, the more I was able to relate my angst with his expressions. I don't deny the chance that I might've been influenced by watching something which was, at the time, not seen on many other news channels, but I don't think I was some exception. I was an ordinary guy like many more who also found their own voice in his outbursts. Arnab exposed and relentlessly pursued a lot of cases while he was at times now. I do admit that I didn't always agree with everything he had to say, but I did respect him for the things he did that others didn't.

When he left Times Now and declared that he'll be starting his own news channel, I was among many others of my friends who looked forward to his new venture. During the time between his departure from Times Now and the launch of Republic he gave a number of speeches which I listened to hoping that I'd get to know the things which make him do all the things he does. In those speeches I found words which were comparatively lower on a decibel scale, but deeper when it came to the meaning. His speeches built a lot of expectations which were shattered after the very first week post the launch of Republic. A man who promised me that he'd do a different kind of journalism with the republic, failed to keep up his promise (as far as I was concerned.)

The Republic turned out to be a brighter and higher decibel version of what Times Now was. For a man who expressed his desire to challange hegemony of global media, claimed to make India a new centre of international news offering an Indian as opposed to the western perspective on international affairs; starting to shout all over again, in my opinion, wasn't a way to explore. I did not want Indian media to be known and, at worst, ridiculed for shouting at the top of one's lungs while calling it a news. I still do not. As I was in for a disappointment with Republic, I stopped watching Republic and even the news at large for a while after being let down by a man who influenced my opinions when I was just an ordinary teenager.

With that said, I must admit that, although I feel that he should not shout on live television in a way he does, I don't blame him for shouting, for even I feel like shouting when I see people being politically correct in a pursuit of a moral high ground which paves them a way into the elite club of self-proclaimed intellectuals.

On this account I have an experience to share where I had a misfortune to be in an argument with a person who happens to be a journalist in one of the premier Indian institutes. In the course of our discussion I found that It 'is' indeed frustrating to see people being righteous when they are so obviously in the wrong. The more you make them aware of their double standards, the more righteous they become. People like the fellow I talked to are present across the entire spectrum of various political ideologies and the problem with people like him is that they are willing to talk more than they are willing to listen. Their wisdom depends upon making others look foolish. Someone just had to make them listen. Someone had to tell them, right in their face, that they are just as foolish as they believe others to be. Arnab did that.

With all the opinions approving and disapproving his journalism aside, one cannot neglect and even deny the fact that Arnab almost single handedly disrupted the indian news ecosystem. He waged a war against, in his own words, "The Lutyens Media." With the launch of Republic and recently with the launch of Republic Bharat he brought in a right wing - soft Hindutva voice in mainstream English media and levelled the battlefield of narratives. Like the fellow I argued with, this leveling pissed off a lot of people as most of the narrative they had spun till the time, now always had a potent and a confident counter narrative.

From what little I have learnt about Arnab, I feel, for most of the time, that he knows what an ordinary man feels and he knows how to make a way to his brain if not the heart. Even though he airs his shows from a studio of a self made company whose valuation is well beyond fourteen hundred crores, unlike many of his friends, he is no stranger to the mood on the streets and the reason as to why the support is pouring out for him is evident enough to prove the same. In my life of twenty six years I haven't seen a single journalist garnering such a massive support for doing what he does.

Given the ability of Arnab to pick up a sentiment of people and inflate it disproportionately, even with his apparent alignment towards central government, he makes himself dangerous to be dealt with as he holds the capability to ignite a fire if he decides to capitalise upon even a single spark of anti-incumbency. (He might just as well create one, if doesn't sense one.) In that sense, Arnab, as he claims, is indeed an independent person and a journalist. His actions do not depend upon the direction of wind blowing in the corridors of power. He does what he believes, he sells what he buys.

I don't feel any need to defend Arnab Goswami. He is a man unto himself. I don't even want to question the Government over the said assault on freedom of speech as such attacks are no stranger to our nation. I don't even want to criticize one state government which is fundamentally corrupt and a proven disastrous failure. For what it's worth, all I want is to say that I feel terribly sorry for the way events have turned out. I hope things won't escalate for any further worse. Although I know that my wish doesn't count, let alone matter and that I do have many reservations when it comes to 'the' Arnab, I want him back on air as early as possible. I also hope that during the time he stays off the air, he carries out some sort of introspection and reconnects with the vision he had when he left Times Now and learns that loud is always not confident.

At the risk of sounding insensitive at a time like this, I feel that although abominable, the manner in which the law enforcement agency has treated Arnab this morning, was supposed to make him taste his own medicine using his own media infrastructure. That is not to suggest that I don't condemn the detestable actions, for I do condemn them- in the words, in fact, as strong as I can use; but then I also feel that it was only a matter of when. I believe he, too, knew the same. This is the reason why I don't want to get into a discussion which explores morality in the context of the actions on either side as the morning has both sides excited enough to debate the same in a time to come. Till then, I hope that Arnab and his family stays safe and sound. That's all.

- Sourabh Raghavendra.