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The second day of the Journalists Literature Festival being held at Chandigarh Press Club, Sector 27, featured discussions on various topics from evolution in Hindi journalism, to politics, to India-America relationship in the 21st century.
The day started with a session on the evolution of narrative in Hindi journalism. Senior journalists and authors Asha Arpit, Mayank Mishra, Ranju Arey and Arun Naithani were part of the panel, which was moderated by journalist Barinder Singh Rawat.
It was followed by a session – “Sports in India: Cricket vs Others”, with journalist Vijay Lokapally, television presenter Vikrant Gupta and hockey writer Prabhjot Singh sharing their insights.
Lokapally credited the BCCI for making cricket glamorous. Gupta, however, insisted that the sport had been popular before the 1983 World Cup. Emphasising the class divides reinforced by sports, Prabhjot Singh said, “It was the British who brought hockey, cricket and golf to India. Hockey was played in the cantonments by lower middle-class Indians, the middle, upper middle class and some royals preferred cricket, and the elites could play golf.”
The third session — “Political narratives in state and national elections: BJP versus the Opposition”, featured journalists Jagtar Singh, Manraj Grewal, Jatin Gandhi and Nidhi Sharma.
Grewal set the ball rolling by asking whether the 2024 election was a one-horse race as is being projected. Sharma said, “It’s not over till it’s over. The BJP is looking confident, but if you go state by state and from regional player to regional player you might be surprised.”
Jagtar Singh said the freedom of expression was under threat. “The character of democracy is changing very fast. Even innocuous tweets on the farmer protest are being taken down. Where is this country heading to?” he asked.
The day concluded with a discussion on whether the India-US relationship stands as the most defining partnership of the 21st century. Journalists Ramesh Vinayak, Varghese K George, Rahul Singh and Jayant Jacob shared their views. On being asked by Vinayak about the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun assassination attempt, George said, “The fact that the United States would handle the Pannun case the way it did, speaks of a trust deficit. In fact, we do not know the whole truth of it.”
Rahul Singh said, “Trust is just beginning to grow between the two countries. One of the biggest deals is the purchase of jets and high-tech drones. The US needs India as a counterweight to China’s growing aspirations.”
Jacob said that India-US ties have gone through several ups and downs. The American establishment does not trust India very much as seen in the Pannun issue.
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