Ranjona Banerji: No one does it better than Arnab Goswami on championing women’s rights

By Ranjona Banerji

After a long gap, I decided to watch Arnab Goswami, the voice of the nation on Times Now, India’s most loved and hated news anchor. And I was in luck. Because Thursday night was the night that he decided to champion women’s rights; and you have to concede that love him or hate him, when it comes to women’s rights, nobody one does it better. I am being extremely serious here. For all the problems I have had with Goswami’s style of journalism, when it comes to women’s rights, he is tops!

The subject was the sexual harassment allegations against Dr RK Pachauri, scientist and part of a Nobel Prize winning team for work on climate change. Sexual harassment cases in India have always been treacherous territory and even more so when the accused are rich, famous, influential and so on. Given the details of the accusations, Dr Pachauri was suspended from TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute). But now he’s back and in a higher position than he was before in what seems to be a clever sleight of hand by his friends at TERI since he was the boss anyway.

Hence, the outrage.

The subject therefore was gripping enough. A very senior doctor, who works with women’s issues and empowerment, pointed out to me recently Goswami takes on such issues more often than anyone else. But the problem seems to be that guests on such shows have also twigged on how to manipulate the inevitable screaming match (“open debate”) to their benefit. “Let me speak let me speak let me speak” they go on, while saying nothing. Goswami interrupts them when he disagrees and this leads to higher decibel levels.

Other guests know how to stay on the star anchor’s good side so they agree with him, adding their expertise when necessary. This means that they will be invited again and again. Pachauri’s lawyer however took the “let me speak” route which meant that he not only annoyed the anchor but everyone else. It did not help that he was trying to defend the accused. Nor did it help that he decided the best way to do so was to personally attack Goswami and the media.

Pachauri’s lawyer also put up a sheet of paper claiming his mike had been switched off which further aggravated the host. He said that Goswami was not a judge and that he should have his own show where only he speaks. It is hard to understand whether the lawyer was being ironic or insulting or just thick since his own show is precisely what Goswami does have and he has established his authority over his show very emphatically over the years. It is Goswami who makes the show and everyone knows that. An easy tip for guests who want to remain in the public eye – do not upset the anchor!

If Pachauri’s lawyer decided that he was the entertainment for the evening, we have a few problems here. The first is that the subject at hand was vitally important. The allegations against Pachauri are very serious and have not been made by just one woman. Students at TERI University of which Pachauri is the head have said they refuse to receive their degrees from him. The people on the TERI governing council are also big names. Although Friday’s papers report that the council will re-look at Pachauri’s role at TERI, it cannot be ruled out that the attention on this case prompted a re-think. For this, Goswami and others who highlighted sexual harassment cases including this one, please take a bow.

However, through his show Goswami discussed media houses which are supporting Pachauri and are part of his large circle of influence. There was an old Tamil film song which asked “Who is the black sheep? Who? Who? Who?”. I repeat the question here! Who?