Hartosh Singh Bal

Hartosh Singh Bal is the political editor of Caravan magazine.[1] Prior to joining the Caravan, Bal had been the political editor of Open magazine. Bal is a critic of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,[2] and also of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.[3] Bal has been critical of the Congress party for its handling of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.[4] Bal has also criticized Narendra Modi for his handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots.[5] Bal had been the political editor of Open magazine when Open had first brought to public attention the existence of the Radia Tapes.[6]

Books

Bal has co-written a novel called A Certain Ambiguity which won the 2007 Association of American Publishers award for the best professional/scholarly book in mathematics. Bal went on to write another book--"Waters close over us"—which is partly a travelogue featuring Bal's travels on the Narmada river, and partly a sociological, political, artistic, historical, and anthropological commentary on the culture of this region.[7][8]

Fired from Open magazine

In November 2013, Bal was controversially fired from his position of political editor of Open magazine.[9] In an interview, Open's former Editor Manu Joseph revealed that the magazine's proprietor, Sanjiv Goenka, had told Joseph that Bal's views expressed in his writings and in television appearances were resulting in him "making a lot of... political enemies."[10] Citing several incidents, including the controversial firing of Bal, a July 2014 editorial in the New York Times commented:

Press censorship seems to be back with a vengeance in India, this time imposed not by direct government fiat but by powerful private owners and politicians.[11]

Indian politician and columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni pointed out several weaknesses in the US media and described the article as "a hysterical shout" and rejected the arguments by saying: "there is no question of India's press being "Under Siege", as NYT hysterically shouts."[12] Indian online newspaper Niti Central pointed out some contradictions in the article and concluded by saying, "NY Times needs to come up with a less lousy explanation to support its deductions and inferences on the muzzling of India’s Press."[13] Bal is currently working for the Caravan magazine as political editor.

References

  1. ↑ "Bal home page in Caravan".
  2. ↑ "Bal on Narendra Modi". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Bal on Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "1984 Sikh riots". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "2002 Gujarat riots". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Bal on Niira Radia". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Waters close over us review by Avtar Singh". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Waters close over us review by Ramachandra Guha". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "New York Times conversation with Bal". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Bal fired from Open magazine". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "India's Press Under Siege". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "NYT's Hysterical Warning About Freedom of India's Press". Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "New York Times knows nothing about India’s media politics". Retrieved 18 November 2015.
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