NEW DELHI // For more than a decade, the weekly magazine Tehelka aspired to live up to its tagline — “Free. Fair. Fearless” — and to rattle the conscience of the establishment. But the arrest of its founder-editor on rape charges has weakened the magazine immensely, raising speculation about its survival.
Tarun Tejpal, 50, has been in police custody in Goa since November 30, pending the investigation of charges that he raped and sexually assaulted a young reporter on his staff during an event hosted by Tehelka in early November.
Tejpal, who founded Tehelka in 2000, is the latest accused in a string of high-profile rape cases in India. Following the gang rape of a young student in Delhi a year ago, public opinion in India has been loud and emphatic in calling for action against the perpetrators of violence against women.
Tejpal’s long-time deputy, Shoma Chaudhury, resigned in late November, after she was blamed for mishandling the incident and for trying to cover it up.
The controversy has undermined Tehelka’s reputation for embodying, according to its Linkedin profile, “truth, courage and conscience in the Indian public space”. Tehelka’s circulation hovered around 175,000 when Tejpal was arrested – far behind the 1.1 million of the leading English newsweekly, India Today, but with a cachet that few others possessed.
Among its first big news splashes was a sting operation conducted on the then-president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bangaru Laxman. Posing as an arms contractor, a Tehelka journalist filmed Mr Laxman with a hidden camera as he accepted a bribe to expedite a defence deal.
Laxman had to resign from the presidency of the BJP, and after a long trial, he was convicted of corruption last year.
Tehelka’s methods raised some concerns when the sting operation’s results were published. At the time, Tejpal acknowledged that his reporters had made “a minor transgression”, although he went on to defend their actions.
Last month, Mr Laxman hit out at Tehelka for creating “its own bubble of uprightness and morals” even as it conducted its journalism “using unethical methods”.
Tejpal’s fall has electrified India’s media industry and generated some sadness about the decay of the magazine. But former staffers said the crash was almost inevitable, and that Tehelka had started to become a vehicle for its editor.
“He had started to become larger than life,” said one former Tehelka journalist, who asked not to be named.
In a column in The Telegraph newspaper this month, Sankarshan Thakur, Tehelka’s executive editor between 2003 and 2008, asked the questions on everybody’s minds.
“Is there a future left? Are there any takers after all of this? Is the job even worth having? Is the Tehelka badge a thing of robbed honour, a calling card they’d rather conceal than offer as credible currency?” Thakur wrote.
Having been a journalist for the news weeklies India Today and Outlook, Tejpal started Tehelka as an investigative news website in 2000. The name, in Hindi, translated literally into “sensation”, and Tejpal’s staff provided plenty of it as Tehelka evolved, going from a website to a tabloid newspaper and finally to a magazine. Tehelka, which aligned itself with the Congress party, exposed the willingness of Hindu right-wing outfits to rent themselves out for riots, the Indian army’s brutality against civilians in the north-eastern state of Manipur, and the complicity of the BJP in the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002.
“You felt that you were engaged in something exciting, something worthwhile,” said Himanshu Bhagat, a copy editor who worked in Tehelka between 2006 and 2008.
But by the time he joined the magazine, Bhagat said, the heady days of Tehelka were in the past.
Tejpal had begun seeing himself as an impresario, with the Tehelka brand a mere stage for his persona. He wrote two novels. In 2007, he organised an art auction in London, with a rich mix of celebrities, the proceeds going toward keeping Tehelka afloat. He cultivated celebrities, industrialists and politicians, many of whom spoke at the Think Festival, an annual event held in Goa where Tejpal is accused of assaulting his reporter.
The decline has saddened journalists like Basharat Peer, who worked for Tehelka in the mid-2000s and remembers it fondly.
“Our reporting budgets may have been narrow, but it was a good magazine where you could do good work,” Peer told The National. “And when something like this happens, you feel bad for the institution that it once used to be.”
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
MO
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
MATCH INFO
Qalandars 112-4 (10 ovs)
Banton 53 no
Northern Warriors 46 all out (9 ovs)
Kumara 3-10, Garton 3-10, Jordan 2-2, Prasanna 2-7
Qalandars win by six wickets
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.