Quite possibly the most engaging debates on the reservation imbroglio have come from Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN. With proponents like Arjun Singh and P. Chidambaram, Thapar has played the devil's advocate, roasting them for their ignorance of official figures to justify the 27 per cent OBC move. With opponents of the reservation proposal like Arun Shourie, Thapar has taken the opposite position. Last night, Thapar locked eyes with the former Indian Express editor on the eve of the publication of his book, Falling Over Backward:
Thapar: Name one village out of India’s 6,00,000 villages where the Dalits are permitted to stay in the centre of the village. Not only are they banished to the outskirts, but in most cases, they are required to live in the south side so that the wind that blows over them doesn’t pollute the village. That is the extent of discrimination they still suffer.
Shourie: And the wind in all of South India comes from the south my friend. I don’t know where you get this nonsense from?
Thapar: Chandrabhan Prasad, perhaps one of the few Dalit intellectual scholars, who can easily confirm the facts to you.
Shourie: Well, maybe. We have all got impressions about India. India is a large country. Almost every statement about India must be true, but the south business is quite silly because if you come to Goa my friend, you see the wind coming form the south. You come to Kerala, you see the wind coming from the south.
26 June 2006 at 3:30 pm
I have watched so many interviewers. But i have noticed that Karan Thapar usually gets into tiff with his interviewees. With others it is usually very sobre and quiet chats. But when Karan talks to a Bajaj or a Shourie, it is fun.
I remember an interview which I have recorded of Karan Thapar interviewing RK Laxman and Usha Uthup for a show on DD2 maybe in 1993-4 and there was an argument with Laxman and Usha.
A case of “hutt guna suttru hogalla….”
26 June 2006 at 10:09 pm
other than his interview with george fernandez about vishnu bhagwat some years ago, this guy is a pain. i remember in the late 80s or early 90s on “World this week” or something like that… this guy was off in Afghanistan interviewing somebody(could well have been some taliban guy)… and then he started badgering them, they told him.. “okay get out.. you asked for five mins.. five mins over.. you can leave “… ha ha ha…
27 June 2006 at 2:17 am
Terrible interview. Karan Thapar does not have any idea on how to conduct one. For example, this guy does brilliant interviews.
27 June 2006 at 7:08 pm
Marvelous one………….
It is not easy talking with Arun Shourie with half facts ! I think Karan got it this time.
Arun shourie always puts facts first as his books.
Just purchased his book ‘Falling Over Backward’.
Just gone through 15 pages………wondeful facts and presentation is very sutle………..rarly comments without facts……….Arun shourie as usual.
Good that he is writting again………
27 June 2006 at 8:45 pm
This time KT got it back. He seems to have a habit of trying a hit and run whenever he starts on any issue. This time it did not work very well.
27 June 2006 at 10:48 pm
shourie is a bigot no doubt but thapar couldn’t reply on the matter of discrimination based on skin colour! of course its not PC to talk about that.
ur earlier post advising pranoy roy was spot on. u know why the shield of secrecy – some say its because they don’t want it too much in the public domain that he’s anglo-indian, well half irish actually. and his wife (brinda karat’s sister) is half sardarjee hence the fair skin north-centric obsession of their channel. pseudo communist charlatans, this husband-wife duo.