India is facing a dearth of real leaders, say panelists in The Statesman debate

Kolkata, Sept 19: India is facing a dearth of real leaders - leaders who woefully lack Prime Ministerial material, said panelists in The Statesman debate conducted after the presentation of The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2011 and The cushrow Irani Prize for Environmental Reporting. The topic was "Every one is playing a cameo on today's political stage" and the participants were former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi MP, India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma, Dr Ajoy Kumar, MP and Arati Jerath, journalist. Some of the panelists said that a possibility of the country's next Prime Minister being Mulayam Singh Yadav, or J Jayalalithaa or Naveen Patnaik or even Mayawati could not be ruled out. Such a possibility can't be ruled out since the crop of politicians strutting and fretting on the national stage have the capacity for a cameo innings only and woefully lack true Prime Ministerial material, the panelists said. Rajat Sharma said the last leader of stature was Atal Behari Vajpayee who had once given him the “friendly advice” not to shower panegyrics on him in his popular TV programmes as this would only damage his credibility as a journalist. For Dinesh Trivedi it was because political leaders are now propelled by their personal agenda. “Their sense of prestige and pride is not for holding lofty ideals, but for promoting their own personal interests,” the former railway minister said. Trivedi kept insisting that his remarks had no bearing on Bengal politics, yet he found a common strand binding him with Gandhiji as both were thrown out of train. His humour at his own cost drew loud cheers when he asserted that like Gandhiji he also had no regrets (he was sacked as railway minister by his party chief Mamata Banerjee). Trivedi said current politicians had been reduced to play cameo roles because political parties had been taken over by the mafia with immense power, while political leaders patronise sycophants and hangers-on. Arati Jerath found nothing wrong in regional leaders being catapulted into the centre stage of national politics since that was part of the evolving democratic process. Dr Ajoy Kumar felt low quality of legislative debate and lack of transparency in election funding caused the dearth of true leaders. Kishore Bhimani moderated the discussion posing lively and provoking questions to the panelists . Ravindra Kumar, Editor and Managing Director, The Statesman, said the entries received for the awards showed journalists were continuing the fight against injustice and social inequities. Saju Mulanthuruthy of Malayala Manorama was presented The Statesman's first prize for rural reporting. Mulanthuruthy won the award for his articles about how very little is changing in tribal areas of the state, despite the elevation of the “Kerala model” as one to follow. “There are a few journalists who go to the tribal areas. But it is a tiresome job,” he said. “This generation of ours are telephonic journalists. When a murder happens, we phone, find out one person is dead, then we call the police. People don't go out to the hillsides or to the tribal areas, where you can't take a jeep and have to walk. “Technology has its limitations. We are behind a computer. We have become clerical people,” he said. He however noted that these new tools did mean one can reach people all over the world, like he did with his articles in Malayalam. People from all over the world read his articles, he said, and found his articles revealed a Kerala they hadn't known. The amount of information online has also made it easier for reporters to double-check their facts and go deeper into the dirt, said Jeemon Jacob, Bureau Chief South for Tehelka. Jacob won the third prize for his story on the way pregnant women in Kasargod district, fearful of the effect endosulfan chemicals may have on their babies, were opting for abortion. Vinoy Mathew was awarded the second prize for rural reporting, for his articles about how loans, meant for farmers in Kerala, were being diverted. R Samban, chief reporter at Deshabhimani in Kerala was awarded the Cushrow Irani Prize for Environmental Reporting, for his work highlighting how lakes and paddy fields are being taken over by real estate and land mafias.