Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Clarification

We have received a letter, dated September 21, 2006, from Ravindra Kumar, Editor and Managing Director, The Statesman Limited, on the article "A mission lost in petty politicking" by N. Ram and N. Murali published on the Op-ed page of The Hindu of September 20, 2006.

In his letter, Mr. Ravindra Kumar elaborates on the role of The Statesman and himself vis-à-vis the Indian Newspaper Society and requests us to clarify that there is no basis to any impression that might have been conveyed by the article that The Statesman indulged in "proxy peddling or trafficking"; or "used or sought proxies in order to secure the election of its two representatives to the executive committee of the INS"; or "acted in concert with the promoters or builders, or in any manner endorsed the Mumbai building project either generally, or for the specific purpose of securing the election of its representatives to the executive committee of the INS."

We are happy to clarify that the article, and specifically the reference in one sentence to The Statesman and The Sunday Statesman, does not suggest any of the above and that there is no basis for reading into the article any contrary impression or inference. The purpose of the passing reference in the article to The Statesman, which we have accurately and fairly described as "a great newspaper in long-term decline," was to qualify, with an exception, the statement that "in one stroke, all the Kolkata dailies of significance ... have been jettisoned."

The assertion in the article that an additional representative, based in New Delhi, of The Sunday Statesman "has been inexplicably inducted" is our comment. It needs to be read in the context of our pointing out in the article that Kolkata's biggest newspaper group, the Ananda Bazar Group, and specifically the Ananda Bazar Patrika (with a readership estimated by NRS 2006 to be 7.29 million) as well as the leading Kolkata-based English language daily, The Telegraph, have been excluded from the INS executive committee.

Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu

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