CHENNAI: Recalling that reading a news item in Tamil daily Dinamani, a sister publication of the TNIE group, shaped his political journey and eventually led him to one of the country’s highest constitutional offices, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan on Friday said fearless journalism has the power to change lives, as he paid tribute to Ramnath Goenka at the third edition of the Ramnath Goenka Sahitya Samman (RNGSS) in Chennai.
The Vice President said a boxed item carried next to Dinamani’s masthead, a format which has now changed, reported a protest by the Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the BJP, against the Turkish Consulate in Delhi. The protest was against Turkey’s decision to ban books written by former President S Radhakrishnan, including The Hindu View of Life.
“Nobody questioned it (book ban) at that time. Only Jana Sangh, under the leadership of Vijay Kumar Malhotra ji, staged a dharna outside the Turkish Consulate. That impressed me,” he said. Radhakrishnan added that he spent nearly a year searching for the party before eventually joining Jana Sangh, a decision, which he said, has now led him to the office of the Vice President.
Radhakrishnan described Ramnath Goenka as a towering figure who stood firm for journalistic integrity, intellectual courage and democratic values during some of the most challenging periods in the nation’s history.
V-P hails Goenka’s power of silence
Radhakrishnan said the power of writing and stirring speeches is widely acknowledged and took the names of DMK leaders C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi as great speakers. “Ramnath Goenka demonstrated the power of silence — that was his greatness — by printing a blank editorial during the Emergency,” he said.
He said literary events such as RNGSS reaffirm the central role of literature and journalism in shaping a reflective and responsible nation. Stating that respect for plurality, debate and free expression is deeply embodied in India’s civilisational DNA, he said that from the days of the Vedas and the Upanishads to the great epics and from bhakti to Sufi poetry to modern literature, “our intellectual heritage has always encouraged dialogue, dissent and diversity of thought”.
Stating that freedom of expression, the cornerstone of democracy, flourishes best when exercised with responsibility, empathy and commitment to the larger public good, he said opposition should be aimed at constructive change and societal betterment. He added that every Indian wants the country to be a superpower so that no one can dictate terms to it unnecessarily. The Vice President also urged those in the newspaper industry to earmark at least two pages for reporting on the impact of economic development, detailing how it is transforming society and improving the living standards of the common man, while also highlighting the struggles faced by the public when prices rise.
He also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for placing India’s cultural, linguistic and intellectual heritage at the centre of national discourse, with renewed emphasis on Indian languages, literature and traditions alongside innovation and global engagement. “The conferrement of classical languages to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali reflects this commitment,” he said.
