Scoop! : Inside Stories from Partition to the Present

by Kuldip Nayar

A candid collection of riveting news-stories that brings alive the political history of the Indian subcontinent and the noble - and no-so-noble - men and women who shaped it...

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India, Journalism

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Vishy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book a few days back, and as I'm reading one nonfiction book after another, I thought I'll read this.

Kuldip Nayar was one of the famous Indian journalists in the 1960s and '70s. I think his peak in terms of fame came after the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, proclaimed the Emergency in 1975 and proceeded with her authoritarian rule. At that time Kuldip Nayar wrote a long letter to her protesting against the restrictions on the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. The next day, the police walked into his house, arrested him and put him in jail, where he remained for a few months. His protest was praised and admired by Indira Gandhi's opponents and critics, and 14 years later, when the opposition came up power, he was rewarded for his resistance, when he was appointed as the Indian ambassador to the UK.

This book is a collection of his articles grouped under various themes, chronologically. There is a section on Partition, there are sections on the Indian Prime Ministers Nehru, Shastri and Indira Gandhi, there is a section on the Emergency. There are also parts on the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, and the 1971 Bangladesh war. Some of my favourite articles were an account of Nayar's conversations with Mountbatten and Radcliffe many years after the Partition happened. Radcliffe especially comes through as a nice guy, living a simple life, making the tea himself and offering it to his guest. The part on Shastri was very insightful as he is mostly forgotten today, because his time as Prime Minister was brief and lasted for only 19 months, at the end of which he died under mysterious circumstances. But during his time the 1965 Indo-Pak war was fought, and the Russians mediated a peace treaty between the two warring countries. Kuldip Nayar seems to have been well regarded in both India and Pakistan, which is rare for Indian journalists, especially during that time. So his thoughts about Pakistan and his interviews with some of the Pakistani leaders, especially Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, are very interesting. While reading the book, one sometimes gets the feeling that Kuldip Nayar is too full of himself, feeling that he is always right and the best. Sometimes he describes how he took confidential information which someone had shared off the record and wrote an article about it the next day. I'm not sure whether this is ethical journalism. At other times, one feels that he speaks his mind and his thoughts are unconventional for his times. One of these things that I liked was his article on Srilanka, in which he criticizes the Indian government of that time for training and arming Srilankan Tamil terrorists and providing them a safe haven in India. I don't know any other Indian journalist who has criticized the Indian government for this, at that time. An Indian journalist will typically say that the Indian government was supporting the oppressed Srilankan Tamils, or will sweep the issue below the carpet and ignore it.

A couple of more things which I read in the book which I found very fascinating. It looked like in the 1965 Indo-Pak War, Russia didn't take either side, and tried acting neutral. Which is very surprising, because I thought that during the Cold War era, Russia was on the Indian side, and America was on the Pakistani side. America was clearly on the Pakistani side, while Russia seems to have prevaricated, and sometimes even bullied the Indian side during the post war negotiations. There seems to have been some Russian support for the Indian side during the 1971 Bangladesh War, but in general, the Russian position seems to have been fuzzy. It seems that Russia regarded India as a poor country and a kind of inferior vassal state, not really a friend or an ally. It was not surprising when after the Cold War era ended, the Russian government dumped their so-called friendship with India, and I remember the then Russian President Boris Yelstin saying that the Russian friendship with India was a Cold War era thing, and it was past its expiry date now. It is ironic now that 25 years later, after Russian politicians have pushed their country into near international isolation with their acts befitting a cartoon villain, Russia is seeking friendship with India again. It is almost like a Coen Brothers dark comedy. I hope today's Indian diplomats know their history and know whom they are dealing with here.

Another interesting thing which I found in the book was this. I remember my dad telling me when I was a kid that the American government threatened to bring their naval fleet into the Bay of Bengal and bomb India, during the 1971 Bangladesh War. I haven't heard about this from anyone else since, and so I thought maybe there were just rumours at that time, or maybe my dad was exaggerating. My dad was a history teacher though and he never exaggerates. So it was interesting for me to read an essay in Kuldip Nayar's book which confirmed what my dad said. For some reason, the American government didn't carry out their threat, and their naval fleet didn't materialize in Indian waters. This was probably the closest that India and America had come to actual war on the ground and the heart shudders to think on how things would have been if it had happened.

I've heard Indians sometimes say that it would have been great if India had strategic natural resources like oil and uranium. Oil is energy, and uranium is energy and weapons, and with these two, India would have atleast been a regional power from whom its neighbours and superpowers would have stayed away from. I'm not sure about this. I feel sometimes that India got lucky because it didn't have these things. If the Americans threatened to bring their naval fleet and bomb India, for something which didn't concern them, I'm wondering what would have happened if India had stuff like oil and uranium. There would have been a superpower scramble for the resources and a superpower proxy war would have happened in Indian territory. The Americans have always hated democracy in non-Western countries. If there was a chance of democracy, they always intervened, orchestrated a coup, and installed a right-wing dictator who suppressed the people. The Russians, of course, always hated democracy. Being in the middle of these two bullies, India would have suffered. A tinpot dictator would have been installed who would have kowtowed to one of the superpowers. It would have been like the way it happened in the Middle East or in Latin America. India got lucky, because without these strategic natural resources, except for some superpower bullying and being treated with contempt all around, India was left alone. It continued being a poor country with 1940s technology, till the end of the Cold War era. Then the economy opened up, and as they say, the rest is history. It makes me think of one of my favourite verses (Verse 11) from the Chinese classic 'Tao Te Ching' by Lao Tzu. It goes like this.

"Thirty spokes share a central hub;
It is the hole that makes the wheel useful.

Mix water and clay into a vessel;
Its emptiness is what makes it useful.

Cut doors and windows for a room;
Their emptiness is what makes them useful.

Therefore consider : advantage comes from having things
And usefulness from having nothing."

The last lines always make me smile – "Advantage comes from having things. And usefulness from having nothing."

Having nothing definitely helped India survive the Cold War era. Having nothing will sometimes keep you safe. There is no guarantee of it though. Sometimes even when you have nothing, people will treat you with contempt and will try to crush you. But in this particular case, having nothing seems to have worked. The Ancient Chinese were definitely wise.

I enjoyed reading 'Scoop'. Kuldip Nayar has also written a book on the Emergency. It was first published in 1977, and so probably offers a firsthand witness to the events. I want to read this sometime.

Have you read this and other Kuldip Nayar books?

[GJohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had 'Freedom at Midnight' (Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre) in mind when I picked this one up. Needless to say 'Scoop!' lacks the intensity and objectivity of the former and ipso-facto, remains a collection of stories that Kuldip Nayar as a veteran political journalist contributed to and a documentation of his diplomatic presence, few of which did albeit influence the course of history of the country.
The narrative is simple but merely collects and presents facts. However for a senior political commentator and former diplomat, there are far too many "I"s and "Mine"s than deemed necessary in it.

The interesting chapters include the one that the book begins with: a first person account of the immediate aftermath of Gandhi's assassination. The chapter devoted to the Tashkent summit and Shastri's sudden and mystery shrouded death is the most detailed one - possibly owing to his sincere and unbridled loyalty as a press advisor to the then Prime Minister - whom he called "The politician who made no money"
With equal passion and scrutiny, Nayar is openly critical of Indira Gandhi's leadership, of her incessant disregard of "the Congress old guard" and later during Emergency as she imposed press censorship and gets him arrested for three months.

Other historically relevant chapters include the one about Justice Lord Cyril Radcliffe, chairman of the 'Boundary Commission' and the man responsible to damarcate the borders by orders from Lord Mountbatten: his lines drawn on paper divided one land into two countries.
And another describing his meeting and interview with Pakistan's Father of atomic bomb - Dr. A.Q. Khan, who in the heat of the moment discloses, against political protocol - their possession and ability to make the bomb, just before the sanction of US Aid bill.

[Pramod · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book from Kuldip sir. You can get a lot of information from this book about inside information about India's political past. Recommended for anyone who is interested in the key political issues that happened from Partition till 2000's.

[Ashfaq · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good monologue of all the "scoops" that Kunal Nayar in his illustrious career spanning over the time of history in the Indian subcontinent filled with events, confrontations and battle are recorded. As you go through this book you get a gist of the political history in the subcontinent and how it has shaped the relations between the countries thus far. Additional is the insight into the working of the print media and how it used to work in the era where there were no 'BREAKING NEWS'

[Pooja Anand · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one of India's best-known journalists, Nayar has earned an enviable reputation.

This book is a collection of stories that Kuldip Nayar as a veteran political journalist contributed to and a documentation of his diplomatic presence, few of which did albeit influence the course of the history of India. The book presents the author's view of significant political events with Nayar's personal insights into the people who instigated them and the atmospherics and motivation behind the decisions. The book is part personal memoir accompanied by his characteristically biting commentaries on national and regional politics.

The book presents a sketch of contemporary Indian history, starting with a first person account of the immediate aftermath of Gandhi's assassination. The chapter devoted to the Tashkent summit and Shastri's sudden and mystery-shrouded death is the most detailed one - possibly owing to his sincere and unbridled loyalty to the then Prime Minister - whom he called "The politician who made no money".

There is another chapter that describes his meeting and interview with Pakistan's Father of Atomic Bomb "Dr AQ Khan".

In the end, I would say, the book is a collection of his best work, however, sketchily done.

[Sonam · Rating 4 out of 5]

From partition to tremors in the subcontinent. Kuldip Nayar's scoop is a candid collection of hitherto stories of Indian politics. It brings alive the noble and not-so-noble men and women who shaped it. He interviewed almost all the presidents and prime ministers of India.

Veteran Journalist Kuldip Nayar's wit and astute observation made this one a terrific read. As you go through this book, you get a gist of partition till Vajpayee's bus yatra. He even mentioned the time when he was detained by Mrs Indira Gandhi without any trial because he wrote her a letter to point out that censorship was not consistent with democracy.

This book does notify you about how elements have turned out in histories such as Radcliffe Award which includes why Lahore was carved out to Pakistan, The Father of Pakistan’s Atomic Bomb and the controversy around Shastri's death in Tashkent. What's more enthralling is, these historical anecdotes are scoops (inside stories), not some kind of repetitious information.

Being a journalist what I learnt from this book is, You have to report the happenings as they unfolded, good or bad, without letting your feelings cloud your judgement. It is also mentioned in this book.

[Raghav Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scoop by the late Kuldip Nayar is an engaging book that offers a glimpse of the key events in the subcontinent between 1947 and 1999. However, Nayar deliberately omits several controversial topics, such as the reasons for the unrest in Punjab, Operation Blue Star, and the assassination of Indira Gandhi. He also doesn’t cover Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure and death or the caste upheaval surrounding the Mandal Commission report. Still, I would say this book is good for those readers who prefer concise accounts over a bulky book. It covers the Partition, the early years of independence, and behind-the-scenes stories of political decisions in the 1960s and 1970s. Basically, this book is totally based on the experience which Kuldip Nayar had during his journalism career. That's why there is no mention of any footnotes or references. It is basically a collection of some important stories recalled and written by a senior journalist, who had mostly first-hand experience of them. Don't expect too much from it, but still, if you want to see and understand the practical example of what is 'scoop', then you must go through it.

[Vibhooti · Rating 4 out of 5]

My recently developed interest in the political history of India made me pick this one as the next in the series. This is a collection of stories about the men and women who shaped the country after its independence, put by Kuldip Nayar, a veteran political journalist. This book will be particularly interesting to those who have a brief background and are keen to know about the political issues.

[Nehal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super, well written account of key events in post independence history of India. Very factually told yet so well written. A must read for anyone who has puzzled over conundrums of language policy in India, Shastriji’s death, the indo-pak relations, etc.

Salutations to an awesome realist who has left behind an uncluttered and factual account. And, VERY well written ... so easy to read!

[Mohammed Ashique · Rating 4 out of 5]

its a gripping inside story from one of india's most beloved journalist

[Santosh krishna Venuturupalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Indian history and people who shaped it interests you , you should read this book !

[Sanjeev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dont expect much from it.

[Raghul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book throw light on what was not taught to us on our school histories about post Independence India. Very good book.

[Aravinthan ID · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book to know about post independence India's politicians.