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Journalism of Courage
TO those who know him best, Ravi Shankar Prasad is the guy from Bihar who hit prime time when he took on Laloo Prasad Yadav and the fodder scandal. To those who know him in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Prasad, 50 at the end of August, is the Man with the Mouth: talk first, clarify later.
But everybody agrees being I&B minister is no waltz. Not when half the country is accusing you of authoring a vague legislation, to regulate an equally vague cable system, with no tangible benefit in sight for anyone.
For two months now, the minister and his officials have been dropping set-top boxes at every forum, shooting off promises that your monthly cable bill will not cross Rs 200, only to retract them quickly.
Prasad must be biting his nails. This job should have been a cinch. Answer questions in Parliament, attend functions of the Doordarshan staff association. In between, go on that annual pilgrimage to Cannes. Earlier this summer, it was at Cannes that Prasad took his wisest decision. He made Goa permanent venue of India’s international film festival.
Much of Prasad’s burden was inherited. Till February 2003, Prasad was junior minister for coal and mines and law. Then he stepped into the formidable shoes (sandals?) of Sushma Swaraj, high priestess of morality. On his first day, he announced himself as a liberal. For those on the beat, this meant: no control on Fashion Television or adult movies. Quite a departure from the days when Sushma strictly drew the ‘‘decency’’ line, no ifs and butts.
But two months into his new job, Prasad became a walking talking Sushma. A flurry of notices attacked liquor/lingerie commercials and ‘‘obscene’’ music albums. The ministry had been bitten by the Kaanta Laga bug. Life heaved back to normal soon enough; the lady in the blue thong swung into business again. Convulsed by CAS, Prasad had no time for trifles.
He never has. Son of Thakur Prasad, a Jan Sangh veteran, Prasad grew up to visitors like Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani. The two old men still share an avuncular relationship with him. Graduating from the general secretary of the Patna University Students’ Union — Sushil Modi was his president — to full-time politics, from the ABVP to the BJP was natural. It runs in the family. Prasad’s sister is married to Rajiv Shukla, journalist and Congress MP.
When the fodder scandal broke in 1996-97, lawyer Prasad argued before the Supreme Court, eventually getting it to authorise the Patna High Court to monitor the case. Those trips to New Delhi sealed Laloo’s chief ministry. They also brought Prasad in touch with his ‘‘uncles’’ and with Arun Jaitley. He was set for bigger things.
These days, the I&B ministry is about the biggest thing. Two Sushma hand-me-downs, CAS and private radio (in a mess over exorbitant licence fees) are bad enough. Star News is the new hot potato. Prasad is required to finely interpret its domestic-foreign equity pattern. At his Shastri Bhavan office in New Delhi, Prasad has to step on the gas. Or just step out.
