Manmohan skips journo’s book launch, objects to chapter with ‘inaccuracies’ about his tenure in PMO
TNN | Feb 9, 2019, 04:27 ISTHighlights
- Singh referred to a chapter in Nayar’s book, ‘On Leaders and Icons from Jinnah to Modi’, dealing with his tenure as PM, in which Nayar claimed government files were sent to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s house.
- Defending Singh’s decision to skip the launch, Congress MP Kapil Sibal asserted that while Nayar belonged to an era of journalism that did not exist anymore, it was not necessary to be taken in by everything that journalists said.
NEW DELHI: The book release of veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar’s latest turned into another battleground for the Congress-BJP faceoff with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh skipping the launch citing inaccuracies in Nayar’s reportage of his tenure in office as PM, and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri claiming Congress was defining “democracy in narrowly local and parochial terms as emanating only from one family”.
Singh referred to a chapter in Nayar’s book, ‘On Leaders and Icons from Jinnah to Modi’, dealing with his tenure as PM, in which Nayar claimed government files were sent to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s house. “This statement is not true and Kuldeep did not check with me about its truth. In this background I would find it embarrassing to attend the book release function on February 8, 2019. I hope you will be kind enough to forgive me for this lapse...”, Singh said in his letter, read out on Friday by Nayar’s son and Supreme Court advocate, Rajeev Nayar.
Defending Singh’s decision to skip the launch, Congress MP Kapil Sibal asserted that while Nayar belonged to an era of journalism that did not exist anymore, it was not necessary to be taken in by everything that journalists said. In a separate reference, Sibal called Nayar a champion of friendship between India and Pakistan, and cautioned the political classes against “making our future hostage to our past”. He also said India, under PM Modi, was “troubled”.
Puri, however, accused Congress of launching an attack on the very democratic institutions it was waging war to protect and said the only “organised, comprehensive onslaught on civil liberties” was during the Emergency period in 1975. “If you think democracy is going to come through a hotchpotch of 11 choices with one PM for each day of the week -- look at the history of these people with whom they are making common cause -- all I can say is God help you my friends,” Puri said, referring to the opposition parties coming together against PM Modi ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Union minister Arun Jaitley also joined the book launch live from New York. In an effusive tribute to Nayar’s journalistic work, he also invoked the Emergency era when civil liberties were suspended. The journalistic community was looking for a leader and Nayar was the natural choice, Jaitley said. “He even suffered detention, but never looked back. And he had very strong views,” Jaitley added.
Singh referred to a chapter in Nayar’s book, ‘On Leaders and Icons from Jinnah to Modi’, dealing with his tenure as PM, in which Nayar claimed government files were sent to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s house. “This statement is not true and Kuldeep did not check with me about its truth. In this background I would find it embarrassing to attend the book release function on February 8, 2019. I hope you will be kind enough to forgive me for this lapse...”, Singh said in his letter, read out on Friday by Nayar’s son and Supreme Court advocate, Rajeev Nayar.
Defending Singh’s decision to skip the launch, Congress MP Kapil Sibal asserted that while Nayar belonged to an era of journalism that did not exist anymore, it was not necessary to be taken in by everything that journalists said. In a separate reference, Sibal called Nayar a champion of friendship between India and Pakistan, and cautioned the political classes against “making our future hostage to our past”. He also said India, under PM Modi, was “troubled”.
Puri, however, accused Congress of launching an attack on the very democratic institutions it was waging war to protect and said the only “organised, comprehensive onslaught on civil liberties” was during the Emergency period in 1975. “If you think democracy is going to come through a hotchpotch of 11 choices with one PM for each day of the week -- look at the history of these people with whom they are making common cause -- all I can say is God help you my friends,” Puri said, referring to the opposition parties coming together against PM Modi ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Union minister Arun Jaitley also joined the book launch live from New York. In an effusive tribute to Nayar’s journalistic work, he also invoked the Emergency era when civil liberties were suspended. The journalistic community was looking for a leader and Nayar was the natural choice, Jaitley said. “He even suffered detention, but never looked back. And he had very strong views,” Jaitley added.
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