Madhav Vittal Kamath (7 September 1921 – 9 October 2014) ^[2] was an Indian journalist and broadcasting executive, and the chairman of Prasar Bharati. ^[3] He worked as the editor of The Sunday Times for two years from 1967 to 1969, as Washington correspondent for The Times of India ^[4] from 1969 to 1978 and also as editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India. ^[5] He had also written numerous books ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} and was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award in 2004. ^{[10] [11]} He was born in a brahmin family ^[12]

In 2009, Mr. Kamath co-authored a biographical sketch of Narendra Modi book titled Narendra Modi: The Architect of a Modern State, at a time when Modi's reputation was considerably affected as a result of the 2002 Gujarat riots; post his ascent into national politics, a newer version of the book was published as The Man of the Moment: Narendra Modi. ^{[13] [14]} Kamath was a board-member of Manipal Academy of Higher Education and was also the Honorary Director of the School of Communication, since its inception in 1997. ^[1]

He died on the morning of October 9, 2014, from a cardiac arrest at Kasturba Hospital; ^[13] he was hospitalized since a few days back due to geriatric ailments. ^{[2] [15]}

Malini Parthasarathy notes him to have longstanding sympathies with Hindutva—one of his columns following the murder of Graham Staines by Hindutva extremists sought to justify the incident as a spontaneous repercussion against conversions, if the government were not willing to step in—in what she deems that as a blatant incitement of hate crimes. ^[16] Others have shared similar views ^[17] and he has also extensively written in the official mouthpiece of RSS - Organiser. ^{[18] [19]} Kamath has been noted to be an astute journalist, whose opinions swayed with the tune of the majority; his stance on the Babri Masjid demolition was quite negative in the immediate aftermath but after about a decade, he deemed that as an act of valiance that restored the self-respect of Hindus and rejoiced about how the state, of Hindu India being under continual siege since the first Islamic invasions, was reversed for the first time. ^{[20] [21] [17]} In the immediate aftermaths of the enactment of Mandal Commission recommendations, when RSS increasingly leaned towards a hardcore Brahmanical approach, Kamath had written of the need to maintain Hindu unity and negate the fall-outs of an impending Shudra revolution. ^[22] Alexander Evans had noted his efforts in racist communalisation of the Kashmir conflict; Kamath deemed the region to belong solely to the Pandits and not to the Muslims, who were allegedly alone-responsible for the decline of their culture. ^[23] Rajmohan Gandhi notes him to be a staunch Hindu. ^[24]

Bibliography

• On Media, Politics and Literature (2009), Prabal Publishing, Bangalore.
• Narendra Modi – The Architect of a Modern State (2009) Co-author Kalindi Randeri, Rupa & Co., New Delhi.
• Gandhi – A Spiritual Journey (2007), Indus Source Books, Mumbai.
• Reporter at Large (2002), Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai. ^[25]
• The Pursuit of Excellence (1982), Rupa & Co., New Delhi. ^[26]
• The United States and India, 1776-1996: The Bridge over the River Time (1998), ICCR, New Delhi
• Corruption & the Lokpal Bill (2012) : Written & Edited with Gayatri Pagdi, Indus Source Books, Mumbai

References

External links

• M. V. Kamath at Rupa Publications
• M V KAMATH : The Coastal Boy Who Made Big in Journalism, Daijiworld

This article about an Indian journalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e