19

Feb

Don’t look at Indians in terms of religious denominations: Sunil Shastri

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Syed Nooruzzaman

New Delhi | Friday | 20 February 2026

The popular slogan given by India’s second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri --- “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” --- was incomplete in view of the changed political climate in the country. That is why his son and a former member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) , Mr Sunil Shastri, said that he had added “Jai Insan” to it, making it “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Insan”.

He declared this in New Delhi in the course of addressing a big gathering at a book-launch function organized by the New Thinker Media Trust at the Constitution Club of India on Monday (February 16).

Mr Shastri expressed the hope that the rechristened slogan could cause a powerful movement to change the painful situation that had come about with the emergence of a new political dispensation in the country in 2014.

The book --- “Opinions, Welcome and Unwelcome: Impressions of an Edit Page Editor” --- by The Tribune’s former Deputy Editor Syed Nooruzzaman, based on his 21-year-long experience, focuses on the challenges faced by media professionals at the top level. The powerful story of a journalist’s journey, told through the book, provoked Mr Shastri to remind the nation that the Indian polity had got infected by a dangerous thinking, weakening the country from within. There is an urgent need to save India from this divisive thought before it became too late in the day. Those who look at “Indians merely as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, et al”, must realise that the country will become stronger from various angles only when we treat Indians as Indians and nothing else.

Article at a Glance
At a book launch in New Delhi, Sunil Shastri, son of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, proposed expanding the iconic slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” to “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Insan.” He argued that in today’s political climate, emphasizing humanity is essential to counter divisive thinking.
Speaking at the release of “Opinions, Welcome and Unwelcome” by veteran journalist Syed Nooruzzaman, Shastri warned that viewing citizens primarily through religious identities weakens the nation. Other speakers highlighted challenges facing independent journalism and stressed the importance of free opinion in democracy.
 The event underscored concerns about media pressures from political and corporate interests, while expressing hope that principled voices and inclusive values would strengthen India’s democratic fabric and restore unity beyond religious and social divisions.

Explaining the idea behind the slogan, Mr Shatri pointed out that his father told him during his teens that when any of our soldiers defending the country at our borders got martyred in action, he must be seen as an Indian having laid down his life for the cause of the nation. The same way, we must treat all farmers, producing foodgrains for our sustenance, just as Indians.

Mr Harikesh Bahadur, a former member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), the Guest of Honour at the function, drew the people’s attention to an Urdu couplet quoted in the book --- ‘Tundi-e-baade mukhalif se na ghabra ai uqab/ Yeh to chalti hai tujhe ooncha urhane ke liye’ --- to tell those assembled on the occasion not to feel discouraged by the kind of atmosphere that had got created in the country. The extremely difficult circumstances we were faced with would ultimately push us to emerge as better Indians, better democrats. He pointed out that the book told us stories about the highly trying situations that the author, Mr Nooruzzaman, had to encounter during his professional odyssey, but he ultimately emerged as a gainer. A Senior Supreme Court advocate, Mr Ateequr Rehman, who presided over the book-launch event, appreciated the idea behind the book. He asserted that the difficulties faced by the people today would disappear as we moved ahead promoting an atmosphere conducive for the growth of the country.

Mr Nooruzzaman, explaining the idea behind his book, said he decided to shed light on opinion journalism owing to the fact that he got an opportunity to serve the Edit Page (Opinion Page) of such a premier English-language daily as The Tribune for over 21 years, a major part of his association with the paper --- more than 34 years. During his long stay on the editorial side of the historic paper, he worked under different Chief Editors. Talking of the art of editorial writing, he told the audience that in The Tribune of his early days there was a prestigious weekly column called Newspeg, meant to train senior journalists as good opinion-piece writers. These seniors --- Assistant Editors and others whose primary job was to write editorials (unsigned small opinion pieces carried on the left side of the newspaper’s Edit Page) --- were allowed to write edits only after they had spent at least one year as contributors to the Newspeg column.

Prof Mohammed Saleem Engineer, an academic recently retired from the Jaipur-based National Institute of Technology (NIT), lamented at the media scene today. He described it by saying that “earlier newspapers were first published and then sold to people who wanted to know about the developments within the country and abroad. But now newspapers (media houses) get sold before being published.”

Mr Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Editor-in-Chief of Radiance Viewsweekly, highlighted the importance of opinions that are expressed through newspapers and digital media outlets. It was a matter of satisfaction that the newspapers published in English were by and large maintaining their independence despite the pressures they had to bear from the government and big business houses.

Mr Pradeep Mathur, a journalist and academic, asserted that the media professionals were not to blame for writing in accordance with the wishes of the rulers of the day. This laughable situation was there because of the spineless media house owners, who had chosen to bend before the government to earn as much profit as possible.

Mr Ashwani Bhatnagar, author and senior journalist, narrated some interesting stories from his days in The Tribune when he and Mr Nooruzzaman were together in a senior editorial position. He said The Tribune provided its journalists and others better opportunities to express their thoughts without fear or favouring anyone.

Mr Raj Kumar Singh, former Editor of Dainik Tribune, pointed out how in The Tribune senior journalists would interact among themselves yet having differing views on issues and events.

Syed Khalique Ahmed, a former Special Correspondent of The Indian Express, expressed the hope that today’s depressing scenario would not be there forever. The situation would definitely change for the better owing to assertions by right-thinking and justice-loving people like Kotdwar resident (Uttarakhand) Deepak Kumar, a Hindu gym owner, who called himself as ‘Mohammed Deepak’ while challenging a crow of extremists, trying to force a Muslim shopkeeper to rename his shop.

The book-release function drew over 50 persons to participate in this intellectual exercise. The organisers expressed their satisfaction at being able to make such a large number of people attend the programme in a city like Delhi, having long distances and frequent traffic jams as major discouraging factors.

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