Ravish Kumar Pens Open-Letter For Journo Turned Minister MJ Akbar

Kumar asked the BJP minister how he dealt with criticism and abuse that comes with the being a journalist.

Ravish Kumar and MJ Akbar. (Photo: The Quint)

Journalist and author MJ Akbar was inducted into the Cabinet on 5 July where he was appointed as the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs.

NDTV  journalist, Ravish Kumar wrote an open letter to Akbar after his appointment, asking to know how he managed his work with politics and asked about his defection from Congress to BJP, which brought with it an opportunity to join the cabinet.

In his letter, after congratulating Akbar on his new appointment, Kumar asked him how about the transition from being a journalist to a full-time minister felt.

Kumar asked the minister how he dealt with criticism and abuse that comes with the territory of being a journalist.

After the ‘black screen’ prime time show Kumar aired during the JNU row, he faced immense criticism online and resorted to quitting Twitter. He said the criticism he has received in the last three years is far greater than the criticism his graver mistakes during crucial reporting garnered.

Talking about the outrage on social media, the veteran Hindi anchor went on to say how he was labelled a “pimp” and “hustler” and even his mother was not spared as the trolls called her a “whore”.

He asked Akbar if he too was called a pimp when he came back to journalism after a failed political sojourn with the Congress.

On how to dissociate oneself from politics while writing, Kumar asked Akbar:

When you returned to journalism from politics, did you worry about the party and its ideology when writing about them? Were you able to hold your ground? How firmly? When you returned to politics from journalism, did you start doubting what you wrote?

Kumar wrote about the decline of journalism at the hands of journalists who become the extension of spokespersons of parties, not critically questioning them.

Do you think when journalists ask difficult questions, they are pimping another party? Which question can make one a pimp?

Read the full letter on NDTV.com