M. C. and “National Herald”

It is always difficult to speak about one whom one has known all one’s life. Public praise is somewhat artificial to the receiver as well as the giver. And Chalapathi Rau is extremely sensitive about these things and I can guess how embarrassed and uncomfort­able he must be feeling. My father not only had regard and unfailing trust in him but regarded him as a friend. My husband and I felt privileged to count him also a friend. Rarely does an editor preside over the destinies of one newspaper for 30 con­tinuous years. Because of this old association of ours with the Herald and of M. C., as he is fondly called by all who know him, we thought we should express our appreciation a\ld gratitude, for his services.

The country thinks of the Herald as Jawaharlal Nehru’s paper. But it is equally M. C.’s paper. A true editor and his newspaper develop a peculiar sense of identity. The only parallel in the relationship is between a good principal and his college. This comparison is not inappropriate because a good editor is always a good educator. At its best the press is a people’s university.

Jawaharlal Nehru had very clear and definite ideas regarding ­the role of the press. He did not consider newspapers as commodities to be bought and sold. To him the press was an educating influence, an aid to rational thinking, a check against irrational forces, one of the instruments for building a nation–a new kind of nation. This is the kind of newspaper he wanted the Herald to be. He did not think of it as an establishment which should justify itself merely by profit earning. In fact his aim wasn’t profit at all–it was a purpose.

If the Herald has become the sort of newspaper which it is, its credit largely goes to two remarkable – and wholly dissimilar – ­persons: Rama Rao and Chalapathi Rau. By his steadfast and unwavering devotion to his paper, by his deep understanding of the working of political and historical forces and of motives which activate men and nations, by his feeling for style no less than his sense of history, and above all by his own integrity, his insistence on judging between right and wrong and writing what he believes, without fear or malice, Chalapathi Rau has become an institution. As was said of another great editor, C. P. Scott, he has made righteousness readable. I only hope that his friends won’t make him a monument. He has too much humanity and humour for that. Efficiency experts and actuaries may not think highly of the Herald. Yet it has commanded influence and respect. For 35 years it has moulded the thoughts and attitudes of people, in particular of Congressmen in this part of the country, and has accumulated a considerable reputation in the profession of journalism.

Today cynicism is the besetting sin of world journalism. Chalapathi Rau is to be congratulated on keeping his faith un­dimmed. Another fault of today’s press is the desire constantly of making more money. I am shocked at the filth and falsehood that sometimes appear in newspapers, the pain inflicted and the harm done by them, all in pursuit of a higher circulation and advertisement revenue. Isn’t it time that the more earnest men and women in the profession do something, about checking vulgarity in the press and related media?

It is said–and I agree–that the press is one of the in­dispensable institutions of democracy. Newspapers have become an integral part of society, democratic or otherwise. But since democracy provides opportunity for openly expressing dissent, freedom of the press is part of democratic freedom.

Today, we are gathered here to honour a person who symbolises editorial integrity. It is because his feet are firmly planted on certain ideals that he can be feared. What he is saying, what he has said is not a remark to please or to offend, not to make or to destroy, but to carry forth the programme towards the sort of what you have which his friend Jawaharlal Nehru and our other great leaders had put before the nation. It is because of his strong conviction and also his deep comprehension of my father’s mind and approach that he is able to put them into writing and to continue to put them. We find many people whether they call themselves Gandhites or Nehruites or any other “ites”, they confined themselves to what was said at a particular period in a particular context which shows that they did not really under­stand the person deeply and therefore have to restrict to them­selves to certain written or spoken words.

But because M. C. has this deeper comprehension, he is able to assess and to interpret today’s contemporary forces, contemporary events and contemporary personalities keeping in view the same ideals. This is what makes his writings so important and so relevant even today and I can say that quite often–Dikshitji has mentioned a certain simplification of language–but what has struck me most about M C.’s editorials is his ability to go straight to the crux of the problem, not bothering about the many details and frills but straight to what it is that matters, what it is that has to be got across and explained and this is his true greatness as an editor. So, today, we honour not only a great editor, but a lovable human being who has compassion and understanding for his fellow men and women.

On your behalf and on my own I wish him long life and a greater sense of fulfilment.

[Excerpts from the speech made by the Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi, at the function arranged to felicitate M.C. on June 30, 1976, at Teen Murti House, New Delhi, on the completion of 30 years of his editorship of the National Herald.]