Hartosh Singh Bal · @HartoshSinghBal
2nd Jan 2015 from TwitLonger
where @rahulpandita signs off in style from The Hindu. revelatory resignation letter to @MaliniP
Dr. Parthasarthy,
I think I made my point quite clear in my email to the editor-in-chief. In the current situation what the Op-ed page really needs is a bunch of interns who can seek instructions from you on an hourly basis and then get in touch with the authors on your behalf. An Op-ed editor, the way I see it, has to be given some broad guidelines in the beginning and then left free to run the page. But there is absolutely no freedom for the current editors to do so. Every article that comes to us or has to be commissioned has to go through your approval. And it really depends on what you think at that point.
To tell you the truth, it is just a waste of talent, as far as I am concerned.
I came to The Hindu to steer some top-notch reportage and to strengthen the edit pages - by making it more accessible and more nuanced. But I am bogged down with this hourly need to consult you, and with the practice of selecting articles on the basis of whether you've been addressed as "Malini" or "Ma'am" in the covering letters.
I am also sick of this constant play of yours: to pitch one person against another for one week, and then reverse it in the next. One is also tired of your changing goalposts. The Sunday Anchor has to be reportage-driven, and then suddenly it becomes policy-driven, and then suddenly, depending on what you hear or get impressed with, it has to be made reportage-driven again.
I am a hardcore journalist and I came to journalism with a certain anger, with a certain cockiness. I have seen people dying in front of my eyes, their entrails in their hands. I have had guns pointed to my temple. Getting my blood pressure high in a conflict zone is a part of my life. But I do not like to get my blood pressure high while sitting in a cabin, waiting for a phone call from yours, of which I'll not understand a word.
I have resigned with immediate effect. And that is what I have conveyed to the editor-in-chief.
Warmly,
r