I was surprised to read your editorial “Name and shame, Mr Tata” (November 17) which has referred to me as “whining and seeking to occupy high moral ground” on the basis of a selective reference to a talk I gave in Dehradun on November 15. I would have thought that a person like you and a publication like the Business Standard would have read the full transcript of what I said and the context in which it was said. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the style of the media in present times.
Had you bothered to call for a full transcript and had you chosen to view what I said in the context in which it was said – in answer to a question, (rather than take my words out of context to create sensationalised news to attract readership at all costs) – I believe you would have realised that in answering the question, the message I was conveying was that the elimination of corruption would need to be a self-imposed value system, where one would be willing to make a major sacrifice and not consider a bribe as a means to an end. Had you gone through the transcript, you would have noticed that I made no statement claiming that a minister had approached me for a bribe. My remarks referred to a fellow industrialist in the private sector, who called the Tata Group stupid for not meeting what he believed to be the minister’s requirements, if getting the airline was important to us. I had responded that he would never understand that we did not operate that way. The moral of what I was saying is embodied in my statement that “I wanted to go to bed at night knowing that I had not succumbed” — nothing more, nothing less.
The Business Standard had, in years gone by, commanded my respect as a publication that reported news factually and stood above other publications that saw nothing wrong with misinterpreting news by taking statements out of context to serve their needs or linking news to advertising. Similarly, many of us have admired you, Dr Baru, as a journalist who would stand up for causes and be the moral conscience of the nation. I wonder what has happened to the Business Standard and to the Dr Baru that we all knew. If you still believe in presenting the public with facts as they are, I would expect you to publish my letter in its entirety, without editing out the parts that you do not like.
I hope you can also say that you go to bed at night knowing that you have not succumbed.
Ratan N Tata
The Editor replies: All news reports in the Business Standard are based on factual information. An editorial comment is the opinion of the editor. In this case the comment was based on published and unpublished information available with the editor. The Business Standard continues to adhere to the highest standards of journalism, believing that while facts are sacred, comment ought to be free but fair.