New Delhi: An award-winning journalist, Anita Pratap is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Ernakulum in Kerala. She worked with international media houses including CNN and Time, as well as India Today, The Telegraph, Sunday and The Indian Express.
In the 1980s, Pratap was widely regarded as one of India’s best war correspondents and international breaking news journalists, who reported from war zones in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan and on riots, insurgencies, assassinations, natural disasters, elections and the fall of governments in Asia. She shot to fame in 1983, with the first-ever interview with Velupillai Prabhakaran, the chief of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).
Pratap was equally dedicated to “development journalism”, reporting on issues such as health, education, unemployment and poverty. She is now associated with the topi (cap) and the jhaadu (broom), symbols of the Common Man’s Party.
She speaks to Gulf News in an exclusive interview.
What made you join politics and the Aam Aadmi Party?
I took up journalism as an important democratic tool and wanted to be the voice and face of millions. But over the years, I became cynical at the erosion of the system. Despite coming out with the truth and providing accurate, fair and neutral information, so that the policymakers could make the right decisions, I found nothing was working and corruption had become the biggest evil.
Like several others, by 2013, AAP and Arvind Kejriwal impressed me. During an interview, I saw Kejriwal countering all questions with well-researched facts, whether it was about economics or politics. That strengthened my belief that there was perfect alignment in our views and I decided to be a part of AAP. Kejriwal is not a messiah or saviour, but the catalyst, who has become the voice of the common people. Unlike others politicians, he didn’t cling to power and the chief minister’s chair in Delhi and that is proof enough of the transformation the party will bring.
From being seen as a ‘much-needed change’ AAP is now being dubbed as similar to other political parties. To what do you attribute the let down?
What happened in Delhi was a great successful experiment. But total disinformation was spread by a section of pro-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media. They gave a very negative portrayal of what happened during the 49 days of AAP in power. The reality is that in the history of India, no political leader has implemented as many schemes as Arvind Kejriwal did in that brief spell. Apart from providing drinking water and electricity, he filed an FIR against Mukesh Ambani and even the Election Commission took note of that complaint. The impact of AAP in the city had been such that even the media was compelled to mention that corruption had actually come down during Kejriwal’s tenure. Sadly, people watching or reading reports by a section of biased media, have been getting influenced by negative reports, even though the common man across India has actually approved of Kejriwal’s action (regarding resignation) and his popularity has risen.
Where do you see the party after the elections?
This is the Mahabharata of the new age. It’s a long war and this election is only the first battle. Many more battles lie ahead.
Your party is describing the Gujarat development model as a farce. Why then is the BJP claiming there’s a Narendra Modi wave?
It’s all BJP’s propaganda. Kejriwal has exposed what the media should have. It was only after he began talking about the so-called development in Gujarat that certain newspapers came out with reports that Gujarat fares worse than the national average on issues like health and education. It’s only a couple of industrialists who are doing well in the state because the land of the poor farmers has been given to these industrialists at low prices and the farmers are suffering. Though the agricultural growth has declined in Gujarat, it is not being reported.
What had you been doing all these years after leaving CNN?
I worked as a freelance journalist, made documentary films, gave lectures, addressed conferences organised by international forums, schools, universities and prominent think tanks across the world, ranging from the United States to New Zealand. I also took time to study governance models of other countries. Researching and reading about international governments and their systems, I found what had worked in other countries. That’s when I realised it all boils down to political will. There can be great changes if there’s political will.
Several journalists have joined AAP in the last few months. Is it because it’s felt that merely writing on issues is not enough and joining the system to fight and change it, is imperative?
Yes, that’s the truth. The political class has no aim other than indulge in looting the state of its natural resources. So, one realises that, unless one has political authority, changes cannot be effected. Kejriwal stood outside for three years with India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, but no political party tried to bring any change. That’s when the conscience of many journalists and activists was awakened. We decided to do something about it by getting into the system. The purpose is to rescue India from the hands of the horrible politicians. We have waited for 65 years. And this is the last chance in our lifetime. If we don’t do anything now, these politicians will squash us. One can see how desperate they are to remain in power and what levels they are stooping to attack us.
