Fight against fundamentalism

"EASY fundamentalism worries me," said Tarun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of Tehelka, in an exclusive interview with Bangalore Times. Tarun was in town to launch the Tehelka lecture series, an attempt by him "to bring together the public and some of the finest minds to interact on pressing issues." Nobel laureate VS Naipaul, who was supposed to deliver the first lecture, later turned it into a book-reading cum question-answer session.
In April 2003, Bangalore Times first wrote about Tarun''s plans to start a weekly newspaper called Tehelka. Then Tarun was reeling under a witch-hunt that he was subjected to as a result of the exposes done by his Tehelka.com. "I didn''t expect such gross misuse of power," he had raved. He was unsure of the future since he was concentrating on "just surviving" but was determined to rise from the ashes. Today, he is upbeat and confident and is also sporting a new hairdo — a funky ponytail. He has attained film star status with people clamouring for autographs. He always asks, "What is your name?" before he pens a few lines and signs his name. His celebrity status was visible when he garnered more applause than the Nobel laureate himself.
Tehelka''s inaugural cover story, ''Preparing for the harvest'', an expose on George Bush''s alleged conversion-to-Christianity agenda for India, earned Tarun condemnation from various quarters. He was accused of scoring "brownie points with the BJP" and "sucking up to the government" so that "they would stop the witch-hunt". Tarun discards all allegations. "Some will only look at what they want. They rarely look at the whole picture. It''s easy fundamentalism. We are just doing our job. We are against all kinds of fundamentalism. We have proved that and we have paid a price for it too." He continues, "The so-called intelligent and educated people engage in easy fundamentalism. This easy fundamentalism is a threat to society." Asked why he felt more and more educated people seemed to subscribe to or encourage "easy fundamentalism" he said, "Education is not just getting a degree and holding a good job. It runs deeper. To me good education means liberalism. Education liberates the mind."
Tarun hopes to break even with his new venture in a year''s time. "If I don''t, I''d be disappointed," he said. What about the witch-hunt? "I don''t worry about such things. There are certain things we cannot control and I am not going to let that affect what I do and what I believe in."