Dinamani boxed item led me to V-P's office: CPR

RECALLING that reading a news item in Tamil daily Dinamani, a sister publication of the TNIE group, shaped his political journey and eventually led him to one of the country's highest constitutional offices, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan on Friday said fearless journalism has the power to change lives, as he paid tribute to Ramnath Goenka at the third edition of the Ramnath Goenka Sahitya Samman (RNGSS) in Chennai.

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The Vice President said a boxed item carried next to Dinamani's masthead, a format which has now changed, reported a protest by the Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the BJP, against the Turkish Consulate in Delhi. The protest was against Turkey's decision to ban books written by former President S Radhakrishnan, including The Hindu View of Life.

"Nobody questioned it (book ban) at that time. Only Jana Sangh, under the leadership of Vijay Kumar Malhotra ji, staged a dharna outside the Turkish Consulate. That impressed me," he said.

Radhakrishnan added that he spent nearly a year searching for the party before eventually joining Jana Sangh, a decision, which he said, has now led him to the office of the Vice President.