Author: Meenakshi Rao
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 10, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/175159/Writer-asks-Editor-to-correct-Varun-copy.html
This election's poster boy of controversy
and fodder for sensational reportage, Varun Gandhi, is once more a hot headline
- and yet again for outrageous utterances he did not utter and misplaced reporting
of which he is a victim.
The London-based Daily Telegraph has in its
Saturday interview quoted the BJP's Pilibhit candidate as saying that he favours
a revival of his father Sanjay Gandhi's controversial sterilisation policy
and wants "compulsory military service" for all Indians. The report
claims that Varun hopes to follow in his father's footsteps by offering strong
leadership which, according to him, India has lacked for 20 years.
However, as it turned out later in the day,
and amid the wires going haywire with leads on the story, DT's South Asia
Editor Dean Nelson, who had done the story, issued a clarification saying
Varun had, indeed, been misquoted by his paper. In a missive to his office,
a copy of which is with Sunday Pioneer, he says: "You have made an error
in your report on my interview with Varun Gandhi in today's Daily Telegraph....
You claim we report that Varun Gandhi wants to re-introduce forced sterilisation.
"As you can see from the link to my article,
this is not true. I report that he wants to take up the issue of population
control, but that he believes the earlier policy was implemented in a roughshod
manner. He favours a softer approach of positive incentives, such as financial
benefits for those who choose to have smaller families. Can you please correct
your article as a matter of urgency? Many thanks, Dean Nelson, South Asia
Editor."
The letter came as a shot in the arm for a
beleaguered Varun who had been denying since morning that he had never said
anything on forced sterilisation but with very few believing him, what with
his earlier audio tapes filling up news space for the print and electronic
media in the face of an otherwise dull election kick-off.
In a statement, Varun said: "I categorically
deny having stated in an interview to Mr Dean Nelson of the Daily Telegraph
that I am in favour of forced sterilisation. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Nor have I made any mention of reviving any previous sterilisation
programme or policy.
"What I stated and which Mr Dean Nelson
of the Daily Telegraph has confirmed is that I said that I was broadly in
favour of a sensible family planning programme to be introduced through education,
awareness and positive incentives.
"Mr Nelson has also issued a clarification
in this matter which is attached herewith. I would appreciate that care be
taken in the future so that my words are not misrepresented and taken out
of context."
Varun's "strident" interview even
managed to put the BJP on the backfoot with the party issuing a statement
that Varun's reported sterilisation talk was his personal view. "What
Varun has said on forced sterilisation may his personal views. The BJP promotes
family planning but does not support any forced sterilisations," spokesperson
S N Singh told PTI in a bid to distance his party from unsavoury controversy.
