B G Verghese

Boobli George Verghese (b. 21 June 1927), usually known as B G Verghese, is a senior Indian journalist, who was editor of the leading papers Hindustan Times(1969-75) and Indian Express (1982-86).^[1] In 1975, he received the Ramon Magsaysay award for outstanding contribution to journalism. Since 1986, he has been associated with the social sciences think-tank Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.^{[2] [3]}

Hailing from an elite family background, Verghese attended the Doon school and then studied Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi with a master's from Trinity College, Cambridge.

Career

Verghese started his journalistic career in The Times of India. He was information adviser to former prime minister Indira Gandhi during 1966-69 and wrote her speeches^[4]. Subsequently, he joined as editor, Hindustan times, but he would lose his post for daring to criticise Indira Gandhi^[5] during the dark years of the emergency. His integrity in those years earned him immense respect and he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay award that year. Immediately afterwards, he contested Lok Sabha elections in 1977 from Mavelikkara in Kerala but lost.

A crusader for civil rights, Verghese has long worked on problems of development. He also on the Editors Guild of India Fact Finding Mission after the Gujarat riots, 2002.^[6]

He has written extensively on developmental issues. .Waters of hope (1990) and ''Winning the future (1994) discuss managing the Himalayan watershed. Design for tomorrow (1965), India's North East resurgent and Reorienting India: Rage, reconciliation and security (2008) are other books with a progressive theme. He is also the author of Warrior of the fourth estate (2005), an acclaimed biography of Ramnath Goenka of the Indian Express, In October 2010, he published his autobiography First Draft: Witness to Making of Modern India, which discusses the steady degradation of democratic processes during the tenures of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi^[7].

References