कैच से बातचीत में अक्षय मुकुल ने बताया, 'मैं रामनाथ गोयनका पुरस्कार पाकर बेहद सम्मानित महसूस कर रहा हूं. मुझे इसकी बेहद खुशी है, लेकिन यह पुरस्कार मैं नरेंद्र मोदी के हाथों नहीं ले सकता. इसलिए मैंने किसी अन्य को इसे ग्रहण करने के लिए भेजा है.'

हार्पर कॉलिन्स इंडिया के पब्लिशर और प्रधान संपादक कृशन चोपड़ा ने उनकी तरफ से पुरस्कार ग्रहण किया. अक्षय मुकुल को रामनाथ गोयनका पुरस्कार उनकी पुस्तक "गीता प्रेस एंड द मेकिंग ऑफ हिंदू इंडिया" के लिए दिया गया था. इस पुस्तक को और भी कई पुरस्कार मिल चुके हैं.

The post ‘मुझे पुरस्कार से नहीं, नरेंद्र मोदी से पुरस्कार लेने में दिक्कत है’: अक्षय मुकुल appeared first on SabrangIndia.

कल शाम हुए रामनाथ गोयनका पुरस्कार के आयोजन में बहुत बड़ी ताकत के खिलाफ बहुत छोटा सा प्रयास दुनिया ने देखा। पीएम मोदी बतौर हैसियत इस कार्यक्रम में मुख्य अतिथि थे और देश के चुनिन्दा पत्रकारों को इस सम्मान से उनके हाथों नवाज़ा जाना था।

लेकिन एक अवार्डी ने पीएम मोदी के हाथों सम्मानित होने से खुद को दूर रखा। क्योंकि वह यहां ये संदेश देना चाहते थे कि जनकल्याण और जनसंहार की भावना एक ही फ्रेम में नहीं होने चाहिए। इसलिये टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया के पत्रकार अक्षय मुकुल से ये अवार्ड नहीं लिया।

ये सरेआम प्रधानमंत्री मोदी को शर्मसार कर देने वाला मामला था, लेकिन ढीठ आदमियों पर नश्तरों का प्रभाव नहीं होता हैं। आपको बता दे कि रामनाथ गोयनका पुरस्कार पत्रकारिता के क्षेत्र में दिया जाने वाला देश का बेहद प्रतिष्ठित पुरस्कार है। अक्सर इस पुरस्कार समारोह की अध्यक्षता प्रधानमंत्री, उपराष्ट्रपति, राष्ट्रपति या देश के मुख्य न्यायाधीश करते हैं। कल शाम मौका था देश के प्रधानमंत्री द्वारा इस कार्यक्रम की शोभा बढ़ाने का, लेकिन अक्षय मुकुल ने खुद को पीएम मोदी के साथ देखना अपने नैतिक मूल्यों का पतन समझा।

सीनियर जर्नलिस्ट अक्षय मुकुल ने प्रधानमंत्री नरेन्द्र मोदी के हाथों रामनाथ गोयनका पुरस्कार लेने से मना कर दिया। फिर उनकी जगह हार्पर कॉलिन्स इंडिया के पब्लिशर और प्रधान संपादक कृशन चोपड़ा ने उनकी तरफ से पुरस्कार लिया। इस अवार्ड को पाने का सपना हर पत्रकार देखता है, लेकिन अगर मोदी जैसा आदमी इस अवार्ड को दे तो फिर अपने उसूलों को तरजीह देना ही अक्षय मुकुल ने बेहतर समझा।

जबकि उन्होनें कहा कि ‘मैं रामनाथ गोयनका पुरस्कार पाकर बेहद सम्मानित महसूस कर रहा हूं. मुझे इसकी बेहद खुशी है, लेकिन यह पुरस्कार मैं नरेंद्र मोदी के हाथों नहीं ले सकता। इसलिए मैंने किसी अन्य को इसे ग्रहण करने के लिए भेजा है।’
आज जब देश के कई पत्रकार पीएम मोदी के साथ सेल्फी खिंचवाकर पागल हुए जा रहे है तब ऐसे में किसी अक्षय मुकुल का होना बताता है कि लोकतत्रं की आंच अभी गरम है।

(Views expressed here are the author’s own. Sabrangindia doesn’t endorse them)

Courtesy: Janta ka Reporter

The post विरोध का शांतिपूर्ण तरीक़ा अपना कर पत्रकार अक्षय मुकुल ने कर दिया मोदी को शर्मसार appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The decision of the Ramnath Goenka Foundation to invite PM Modi this year for the most prestigious award ceremony in the field of journalism had raised many eyebrows in the media fraternity. Akshaya Mukul – a renowned journalist from Times of India boycotted Ramnath Goenka Awards, as he could not “live with the idea of Modi and me (him) in the same frame.”

However, Raj Kamal Jha, editor-in-chief, The Indian Express, who had the responsibility to offer the vote of thanks during the ceremony, reflected on Modi’s speech, and took on him subtly by reiterating the definition of good journalism.

Here’s the transcript of Jha’s speech during Ramanth Goenka Awards, 2016 that took place on November 2.
 

Thank you very much Mister Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji.

After your speech, we are left speechless. But I need to say a few things as a vote of thanks.

Your being here is a very strong message we hope that good journalism is defined it should be defined by the work we celebrate this evening, done by reporters who report and editors who edit. Not by the selfie journalists we see a lot of these days who are always obsessed by what they think, by their face, by their views, who keep the camera turned towards them. The only thing that matters to them is their voice and their face. All the rest is backdrop, a silly background noise. In this selfie journalism, if you don't have the facts, it doesn't matter. You just put a flag in the frame and you hide behind it.

Thank you very much sir for your speech, for your wonderful underlining of the importance of credibility. I think that's the most important thing that we can take away as journalists from your speech. You also said a few wonderful things about journalists that makes us a little nervous. You may not find it in Wikipedia, but Shri Ramnath Goenka, and it's a fact and I can say that as the Editor of the Indian Express, he did sack a journalist when he heard that the Chief Minister of a state told him that, "Aap ka reporter bahut achchha kaam kar raha hai." That's very very important especially in an age, and I turn 50 this year so I can say that, when we have a generation of journalists who are growing up in an age of retweets and likes. And they do not know that criticism from a government is a badge of honour.

So just as they do in smoking scenes in cinemas, I think we should have a ticker tape running whenever we hear praise of a journalist that criticism from a government is wonderful news for journalism. I think that's very, very important for journalism.

Thank you sir for your speech. You made some wonderful points. I think the most important point was of credibility and I think that is very very important. We cannot blame the government for that,that is our job, we need to look within and we will surely reflect on your remarks.

Thank you to the winners of the Ramnath Goenka Journalism Awards. There are two remarkable facts about this year's awards, which I want to share with you. We got 562 applications, this is the highest ever we got in the last 11 years, from 128 news organisations. This is also the highest ever and it is very important for me to underline this number because this is a reply to those who say good journalism is dying, that journalists have been bought over by the government. It is not that good journalism is dying, not at all. It is getting better, and it is getting bigger. It is that bad journalism makes a lot more noise than it used to do five years ago. And that is why I think the remote control should get the RNG Award for Excellence in Journalism. And so that is why I would like to request you to lend a hand to all those who have won the award this year.

In the end, thank you to all of you who have come here this evening. There are people from the government, there are people from the Opposition, we know who is who. But when they applauded journalism, it did not matter. You could not make out who is in the government and who is in the opposition. That is the way it should be. Thank you very much.

The post Jha’s subtle take on Modi: ‘Criticism from Government is a Badge of Honour for Journalists’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Writing for Caravan website, journalist Sandeep Bhushan stated that Akshaya Mukul had been conferred the RNG award in the category of Books (non-fiction) for this book, which sheds light on the ideological moorings of Hindutva—ironically, the lynchpin of the prime minister’s politics.

He wrote, “Mukul had no bone to pick with the RNG awards. He told me that it was an “honour” to have won one. His problem lay in receiving the award from the prime minister. ‘I cannot live with the idea of Modi and me in the same frame, smiling at the camera even as he hands over the award to me.'”

According to Bhushan, the Indian Express’ management’s decision to invite Narendra Modi as  the chief guest this year had left many senior editors unhappy.

He wrote, “A journalist from the publication told me that these editors have raised questions over whether ‘journalism awards should be given by the prime minister at all, especially somebody as polarising as Modi.’ When I asked Raj Kamal Jha, the chief editor of the paper, about the matter, he responded with a cryptic text message that appeared to disassociate the editorial department from the invitation that was extended to Modi: ‘Please send your query to Vaidehi Thakar of The Ramnath Goenka Foundation, which administers the award.’

You can read the full article here
 

The post Times of India journalist refuses Award, says “cannot live with the Idea of Modi and me in the same frame” appeared first on SabrangIndia.