HYDERABAD: The world is heading towards a digital era, with corporate giants, top businessmen and politicos adapting to it, even welcoming it with open arms.
But the same digital platform can inadvertently work against them and open up a can of worms of their scams and misdemeanours, pointed out author Josy Joseph, who predicted exciting times ahead in investigative journalism.
While speaking at a panel discussion titled ‘India on Sale’ on Day Two of the Hyderbad Literary Festival, Joseph presented a deep analysis of his book ‘A Feast of Vultures’, in which he provides unimpeachable evidence against some of India’s biggest business houses and political figures, thereby unearthing or reopening major scams/scandals that have shaped its political narratives. “Inadvertently, big companies have uploaded documents on digital platforms. So these are exciting times for investigative journalists in the country,” Joseph stated.
The journalist-turned-writer is of the opinion that everything in this country is for sale, as long as you find the right middleman for the right job. “We are a deeply immoral society. The Indian political class is like a mafia, where they keep everything within themselves. It’s ironic that Prime Minister Modi speaks of black money when his own party was elected to power with the help of crores of black money,” Joseph bluntly expressed.
Jet Airways, India’s second largest airline company, has filed a Rs 1,000 crore defamation suit on Joseph after he revealed in his book about the alleged links between the airlines and fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Not one to back down from a fight, Joseph has welcomed the tussle in court, stating that he has enough evidence to back up his claims. “I have only quoted from government files. I have nothing to fear. I am fighting this fight also because I want to see whether truth in itself is a defence in this country,” he shared.
The Kerala-born author is optimistic about investigative journalism in the times to come. “You have to have a naive sense of confidence and optimism if you have to do investigative journalism. There are a lot of good people in the system who will provide you with documents and evidence. I am just an extension of the goodness of the system,” he observed.
He explained, however, that investigative journalism is not a piece of cake. “It is difficult to get documents to back your claims. There are times when you know what the truth is but you don’t have evidence to back it up,” he added.