Malini P quits The Hindu; Sengol crossfire suspected in editorial shakeout

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, June 6: Malini Parthasarathy quit The Hindu as an Editor, lamenting that she was finding the “space and scope for editorial views shrinking”. On Twitter, she waged battle with trolls and critics in defending that Sengol was indeed given to India’s first Prime Minister Jawahrlal Nehru by the seers of Tamil Nadu in August 1947.

On her watch, The Hindu had itself carried reports, claiming that evidences were thin on Nehru being gifted Sengol by the seers of Tamil Nadu. The Chennai-based newspaper in a report on May 27 had claimed that the news reports and books did not back the claims made by Union Minister for Home Affairs in a presser at the National Media Centre that the sceptre was indeed presented by the Adheenam of Tamil Nadu.

Parthasarathy’s open support to the government claims on Sengol was at variance with the reports carried by her own paper, which showed that the grand old paper was at war within the ruling family, which has several branches perched on to editorial positions.

“My term as Chairperson of The Hindu Group Publishing ends. However, I have also resigned from the Board of the THGPPL as I find the space and scope for my editorial views shrinking. My entire endeavour as Chairperson and Director, Editorial Strategy was to ensure that The Hindu Group revives its legacy of fair and unbiased reporting. Also my efforts were to free our narrative from entrenched ideological bias. Since I find the scope for my efforts has narrowed, I have decided to move on. I thank all my well-wishers and friends who have supported this challenging journey,” Parthasarathy tweeted to break the news of her quitting.

She was seen close to the ruing dispensation at the Centre, she Parthasarathy sought to repair the image of The Hindu with the government. Trolls tagged images of her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attack her on the issue of editorial moral high ground. She, however, stated that it was normal for editors and journalists to meet the prime minister.

“Thereby hangs a tale. The amount of brainwashing being done by these self-appointed monitors of journalistic integrity has resulted in misleading the public to believe that meeting politicians is not the duty of a journalist! Applauding the beleaguered sanitary and health workers during the Covid outbreak was an admirable gesture initiated by societies worldwide at an alarming time. Journalism doesn’t mean shutting oneself off in a sealed room and pontificating! Get real, whomever you are,” Parthasarathy responded to one of the trolls on Twitter.

However, she was seen speaking in praising words of the Modi government, which is largely not a practice for editors of the print media even while Hindi television editorial heads have blurred the lines of journalistic ethics.