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AKHILESH YADAV AND THE UP POLLS P30

NEW DELHI SATURDAY3 DECEMBER 2011

VOLUME 8

I S S U E

48

CRICKET Golden Era’s Last Innings P50

MORESKELETONS…

EXCLUSIVE: GUJARAT ENCOUNTERS

MALEGAON MISERY: FREEDSUSPECTS RECALL FIVE-YEAR ORDEAL P22

It’s not just IshratJahan. RANA AYYUBnails a disturbing papertrail in the Sadiq Jamalencounter case P38

This Son Also Rises

How was LK Advani’s 38-day Jan Chetna Yatra received?

The yatra received great response everywhere. It was apparent that corruption, price rise and black money in foreign banks are the issues that people are concernedabout. Leave aside states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, where we are strong, even in places like Kerala, TamilNadu and Odisha, the yatra attracted a sizeable crowd.

But media reports from the ground suggest that not many

people turned up in places like Punjab and Jammu.

We went to 23 states and four Union territories. Even

Punjab was a success. The media has tried to see the nega-tive aspect of the yatra from day one. In all places, I saw thesame concern that was raised by the Bofors issue duringRajiv Gandhi’s tenure. This government has a lot to hide.

What are the key issues that came up during the yatra?

The main issue was accountability. As rightly highlightedby Advaniji, it is important to dispel the impression that thewhole country is corrupt. The UPA’s misdeeds, misgover-nance and corruption are only too clear. The people of thecountry are honest. In that context, the chetna we tried toarouse met with great response.

On corruption, in spite of you extending support to Anna

Hazare, his group has always distanced itself from you.

Anna Hazare has done a great job of exposing corruption.In a democracy, everybody has the right to do so. We hadgood discussions with his group on many issues. The BJPwants a very effective Lokpal under whose ambit the PMmust be covered. If any change has to come in the country,it has to come through the political process. As the princi-ple opposition party in the country, the BJP is committed toweeding out corruption.

On the last day of his yatra, Advani announced that all NDA

MPs will declare that they don’t have illegal assets or bank

accounts abroad. Is this just another gimmick?

Why do you call it a gimmick? We will do it once we announce it publicly. It will pressurise the government.Why don’t they reveal the names of those whose nameshave come from France? What is it that it wants to hide? 

Why not go a step further and let NDA state governments also

announce that they are corruption free?

This is a beginning. Most BJP and NDA governments are going to have an effective Lokpal.

In light of the corruption charges faced by former CM

BS Yeddyurappa in Karanataka, doesn’t some of the anti-

corruption rhetoric of the BJP sound hypocritical?

In a democracy, everyone is free to draw his own conclu-sions. Some people are typically prejudiced against the BJP.When the Lokayukta report came out in Karnataka, weasked the CM to go. Whereas even when the Lokayuktacame up with a report against Raj Kumar Chauhan, a DelhiCongress minister, the party refused to take any action.

NDA governments have been proactive when it comes to

legislating Lokayukta laws. But lately we have seen some

variations. Nitish Kumar even refused to follow BJP’s example

in Uttarakhand.

Some variation will be there. The Lokayukta in Bihar is veryeffective; even the CM comes under its jurisdiction. Thestate has also gone ahead with a Special Courts Act to con-fiscate properties of corrupt officials. In Madhya Pradesh,the state law has been passed but is being delayed by theCentre. There may be different models, what is important isthe substance.

The chetnawe tried to

arouse met withgreat response’

BJP General Secretary Ravi ShankarPrasad tells KUNAL MAJUMDER that theLokayukta in NDA states is very effective

3 DECEMBER 2011 TEHELKA 3PHOTO: SHAILENDRA PANDEY

VOLUME 8, ISSUE 48; NOV. 27 TO DEC. 3, 2011, RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 25, 2011; NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER: 70

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EDITOR Tarun J TejpalMANAGING EDITOR Shoma ChaudhuryDEPUTY EDITOR Ramesh SharmaEDITOR, INVESTIGATIONS Ashish KhetanCONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ashok MalikSENIOR EDITOR Manjula LalEDITOR, FEATURES Nisha SusanCOPY EDITOR Srikanth SASSISTANT EDITORS Rana Ayyub (MUMBAI)

Kaushik Kashyap LITERARY EDITOR Gaurav JainSPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS

Revati Laul, Brijesh Pandey,Rohini Mohan, SunainaKumar (MUMBAI)

PRINCIPAL CORRESPONDENTS

Tusha Mittal, Rishi MajumderRatnadip Choudhury (GUWAHATI)

CHIEF OF BUREAU

Jeemon Jacob (SOUTH)

SENIOR CORRESPONDENT KunalMajumderCORRESPONDENTS

Nishita Jha, Baba Umar,Avalok Langer, Sai Manish,Yamini DeenadayalanASST COPY EDITORS

Anamika Chatterjee,Shone Satheesh BabuEDITOR’S OFFICE Ritu Sud (91.9810572889)

MANAGING EDITOR’S OFFICE

Megha Chhabra (91.9990997421)

DESIGN HEAD Anand NaoremART DIRECTOR Sudeep ChaudhuriASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Samia Singh DESIGN TEAM Ajoy Sen,Vikram Nongmaithem,Mahesh Singh Bhandari DEPUTY PHOTO EDITOR

Shailendra Pandey PHOTOGRAPHERS Garima Jain,Vijay Pandey, Tarun Sehrawat,Pintu Pradhan (KOLKATA)

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SATURDAY 3.12.2011

ONWWW.TEHELKA.COM

REBEL YELL The dissent within theCongress over ticketdistribution in U�arPradesh is growinglouder as outsidersgarner crucial seats BY SAMARTH SARAN

~ 11 ~

PROS & CONSN KALYAN RAMAN

The new Electronic ServiceDelivery Bill is unlikely to

make e-governance a reality

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JURY IS OUT IMRAN KHAN

Many Lokayukta candidatesin Karnataka are embroiled in

a co-operative society scam

~ 18 ~

WINTER CHILL RIYAZ WANI

Syed Ali Shah Geelani fearsthat Pakistan is ready to putKashmir on the backburner

TEHELKA tracks down four Muslim suspects whowere jailed for five years after the Malegaon blasts

MAHARASHTRA | SAI MANISH

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UTTAR PRADESH

WAITING GAMEAir India’s woes continueas the panel set up tolook into problems ofemployees, includingwage revision, delayssubmission of report BY SAMIRAN SAHA

AVIATION

THE MIDDLEMANMansoor Ijaz, the manat the centre of theMemogate scandal,once played a key rolein facilitating talks onthe Kashmir disputeBY IFTIKHAR GILANI

PAKISTAN

PHOTO: DEEPAK SALVI

TEHELKA 3 DECEMBER 20116

The Nayachar project approved by the newMamata government in West Bengal is alsonot to be ignored. The project will include athermal power plant and an eco-tourismpark. A (token) industrial park involving train-ing centre for fishermen is also in the project.But as expected, and as in the past, the moreprofitable aspects may become more signifi-cant and the fishermen will take a backseat.

SUDIPTA K SARKAR, ON EMAIL

CHIPPING FIREWALLRefer to Sai Manish’s ‘India a SittingDuck in Cyber Battlefield’, 26 November.

Compliments for a well-articulated article oncyber security. Long road ahead for us.

RAKESH SINGH, ON EMAIL

I understand ISRO does not make public announcements of the equipment installedin sensitive areas and we cannot expect anydeclarations about compromises too. This isa grey zone and it is difficult to distinguishbetween truth and fact, especially whensome ‘named’ or ‘respected’ persons may beinvolved. Your magazine has set standardsfor investigative journalism and is one I admire for treading the fearless path.

DINESH O BAREJA, ON EMAIL

The government needs to revise its orthodoxmindset. It feels happy demonstrating itsmilitary strength on Republic Day, but isscared of talking about its (much needed)advancement on the cyber front. Your articlehighlights the issue of lacking manpower butthe question, to me is, would we be payinghackers government salaries?

DHRUV SOI, ON EMAIL

ERRATIC ZONESRefer to ‘A Storm Foretold’, by RohiniMohan, 26 November.

The need for power is irrefutable, but at whatcost? An environmental and economic disaster in the making! 213 ports! I don’t understand the rationale – what about infra-structural requirements for these ports’connectivity etc? It sure does sound grim. Iguess until we have more clarity on land acquisition policies, this trend will continue.

SHIV PRASHANT, ON EMAIL

Great work Rohini! Happy that the issue hasbeen dealt with in devastating detail. I waitfor more.

VANI DORAISAMY, ON EMAIL

The interaction between ecology and econ-omy at the li�oral zone is extremely poorlystudied. In some ways, the zone is sufferingdue to two other emergencies. One is avail-ability of water inland. The other is theunder-development of inland transport(India is a big country). I just don't see solu-tion but only conflict.

ARJUN NARAYAN, ON EMAIL

Important story but a li�le startled that you neglected tomention the impact of de-salination plants. I’ll wait forpart-2 of your article. We also need information forthose who want to make responsible food choices. Iwould love to know, for instance, if choosing valameenover vanjarameen would be more sustainable.

BLAFT PUBLICATIONS, ON TWITTER

Good Catch,But Fish ForMore Facts

E PLEASE SEND IN YOUR FEEDBACK TO LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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BOUQUETS&BRICKBATS

WAKING UP SIDRefer to ‘RK is Running Again’ by Gaurav Jain, 26 November.

To say that your write-up was excellentwould be an understatement. Not only didyou go under the skin of the man as a personbut also delved deep into his cra� as an actor! What also added to the depth of thearticle was that all the right questions wereposed to him and for this the author needsto be complimented.

AMIT MANUVIRAJ, ON EMAIL

Your article on Ranbir Kapoor is superbly-wri�en. Writing sensibly about a filmstarmust be one of the hardest things. Thank youfor taking a 180-degree turn from Filmfare.

FREDDY BIRDY, ON EMAIL

I wondered if this was going to be a reviewof Rockstar. But as I went through the article,I was delighted at your candour and ques-tions. Ranbir’s responses are refreshinglyhonest! It’s wonderful to see the TEHELKA takeon films. Looking forward to the next one.

ROSHAN ABBAS, ON EMAIL

INDIA WRITES BACKRefer to Shoma Chaudhury’s ‘ToughLessons on Truth-telling’, 16 November.

The tone of the article makes one lend pa-

tient ears to what you have to say. I also getconfused about striking a balance betweendaily conflicts of interests and the greatergood. I liked your maxim: “persuade thoseacross the fence with nuanced argument” aswell as the view that one should live outsidethe cocoon of like-minded people

PRADEESH KUMAR, ON EMAIL

Not only is your journalism of the higheststandards, your defense of it is also inspira-tional. You needn't have wri�en thisbrilliantly detailed piece; not one of yourreaders would have any doubts on the impeccable work you do, the marginalisedcauses you shed light on, the disenfran-chised voices you pay heed to. None of ushas ever doubted your integrity. Just keep being what you are.

GODWIN MARTIN, ON EMAIL

I’m 25 now but as a kid, watching news wasa tediously boring thing till I saw the firststing operation of my life: Bangaru Laxmanand others accepting bribe. Tarun Tejpal rev-olutionised the news world and gave mediapride, and audiences the truth. I can safelysay no one in the Indian media has coveredissues so much as TEHELKA. Your much-needed response has come as a tight slap tothose trying to defame rare and true journal-ism. We stand beside you guys. .

MONIS KHAN, ON EMAIL

3 DECEMBER 2011 TEHELKA 7

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IT ALWAYS feels like the first time, but thisis the seventh award for TEHELKA thisyear. Acknowledging our Assistant EditorRana Ayyub’s inspirational and exemplarywork, the Sanskriti Pratishthan has hon-oured her with the Sanskriti Award forExcellence in the Field of Journalism in2011. At an award ceremony held at the In-dia International Centre on 18 November,Sanskriti fêted Rana for “being able tohighlight and expose some of the bestcriminal investigations; for reporting un-der life threatening circumstances and foroutstanding reportage on terrorism, Nax-alism and religious fundamentalism”.

ACCOLADE FOR TEHELKA

TARUN J TEJPALLETTER FROM THE EDITOR

N Rana Ayyub receiving theaward from former PresidentAPJ Abdul Kalam, at the IndiaInternational Centre

Besides several factual inaccura-cies, the article makes sweepingstatements, exaggerated claimsand innuendoes which seem designed to discredit the CBI andlower the morale of its extremelycompetent and hardworking officers and staff. Since matters relating to NHAI are still under investigation, responding to the inaccurate statements would re-sult in compromising the secrecyof cases under investigation. The article terms the Closure Report ofthe CBI ‘wishy-washy’ and full of‘baffling non-sequiturs’. This observation is contemptuous andmalicious in nature. The Hon’bleCourt of the Principal Judge forCBI cases, Chennai, accepted theClosure Report and passed an order for closure of this case, asper procedure.

DHARINI MISHRA, CHIEF INFORMATION

OFFICER, CBI

ASHISH KHETAN REPLIES:

While the CBI’s clarification beginswith the assertion that the articlecontained several factual ‘inaccura-cies’, the agency goes on to add thatit would not contest them as it will affect the ongoing investigation. Aconvenient way of phrasing a rejoin-der! All the facts in the story were tak-en from the CBI’s FIR and press releases.Instead of pointing out areas of dis-agreement, the agency has chosen touse adjectives like ‘malicious’ and‘contemptuous’. Why would a jour-nalist harbour malice towards the CBI,or any government agency? It’s a pitythat the country’s premier investigat-ing agency is targe�ing the messen-ger instead of the message.

‘Wrong to discredit CBI probe’ Refer to ‘Highway Robbery’, byAshish Khetan, 10 November.