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| Edited By: Ritika Jain |Source: DNA |Updated: Dec 05, 2017, 02:02 PM IST
In 2010, Rana Ayyub, then a reporter for Tehelka, conducted an undercover 'sting' operation on bureaucrats and senior police officers who were in key posts between 2001 and 2010 in Gujarat. Ayyub took on the identity of American filmmaker Maithili Tyagi, who had purportedly come to India to make a promotional film on the Vibrant Gujarat campaign. Over eight months, Ayyub recorded her interactions through hidden cameras and other devices. The transcripts are published for the first time in Gujarat Files… as Ayyub claims that Tehelka withheld the story at the time.
The 2002 Godhra riots are one of the most violent communal clashes in post-independence India, and continue to remain a touchy subject for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Many attribute the rise of Modi, who was chief minister at the time, and his consolidation of power to the state government's reaction to the riots. The transcripts in the book – conversations with a former home minister, director general and police commissioner among others – chronicle the violence in the state at the time. Ayyub supplements these conversations with relevant information that uninformed readers need for context, referring to articles she and other journalists wrote at the time.
Ayyub limits her interaction and the focus of her investigation to top bureaucrats responsible for the state's security. Her motive? To try and pinpoint, conclude and implicate those responsible for the ghastly riots.
The transcripts, presented in a Q&A format, corroborate many of the Supreme Court-constituted special investigation team's findings. The officers then in charge speak about directions they were allegedly given from the top in the aftermath of the anti-Muslim pogrom and the numerous encounter deaths that took place between 2002-2006.
Ayyub has offered her tapes and material for investigation so that their authenticity can be verified and her claim, validated. Should these tapes be proven true, they could have serious legal and ethical consequences for Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, then home minister of Gujarat during this period. It must be noted that Shah was arrested and jailed in the aftermath of Ayyub's investigation of the 'fake encounters' of Ishrat Jahan, Sohrabbudin Sheikh and others.
Whatever the veracity of the tapes and other material Ayyub relies on, what makes Gujarat Files… problematic is the other information she wilfully withholds. Specifically, where she accuses then editors, Tarun Tejpal and Shoma Chaudhary, of colluding with the powers that be and not carrying her story in Tehelka magazine.
Ayyub writes in the last chapter titled Disclosure, "Tarun said, 'Look Rana, after the Tehelka sting on Bangaru Laxman, they shut our office. Modi is all set to be the most powerful man, the PM. IF we touch him we will be finished'." After the book's release, Chaudhary issued a statement clarifying that Ayyub's story was withheld because it did not meet editorial standards, that there were loopholes in Ayyub's story and concerns about the procedure followed.
Ayyub also fails to mention that she was not alone in the sting. A colleague from Tehelka accompanied her to Gujarat, though the sting was conducted independent of the magazine.
Stylistically, Ayyub's book is a compelling read. She has a vivid style that gives readers the impression that they are privy to inside information and gossip. However, this book is about Ayyub, first and last, and the fact that she conducted the sting. Ayyub inserts herself into the narrative right through, flouting the standard journalistic practice of being a fly on the wall.
In places, her writing reeks of a narcissism that can be off-putting.
Nevertheless, Gujarat Files… is a bold book. At a time when many shy away from speaking the truth to the powers that be, Ayyub takes the proverbial bull by its horns.
Such fearless voices should be welcome – narcissism and all.
