Everybody knows Mobashar Jawad
“MJ” Akbar as a journalist, but now he is Minister of State for External
Affairs in the Narendra Modi Cabinet. MJ not only writes well but has an
impeccable understanding of the media world and politics. If anybody desires to
know MJ well, he must read his novel “Blood Brothers”. The story
starts with the life of the MJ’s grandfather Prayaag, who is saved and adopted
by a Muslim family, converts to Islam and takes on the name of Rahmatullah.
It’s a wonderful story about his grandfather who travels to Talinpada, a jute
mill colony in Calcutta. MJ has not forgotten his painful past and has
those memories with him. That’s why, possibly, he has named his son
Prayaag. Apart from powerful writing skills, MJ knows the importance of
political timings. In 1989, MJ was the spokesperson of the Congress Party.
Rajiv Gandhi brought him to the Lok Sabha from Kishan Ganj, Bihar. MJ has
travelled a long political journey and he has recently become Rajya Sabha
Member from Madhya Pradesh. What is he doing in the Ministry of External
Affairs? It learnt that MJ appears to be eager to promote ‘Make in India’
programme in the defence sector. Sources disclosed that he is diligently
digging out all files on ‘counter terrorism’ in South Block. Afterall,
terrorism has direct links with arms and ammunition and the Defence Ministry is
not purchasing arms as desired by the arms lobby. MJ never does anything
without reason. He is backed by a very powerful minister in the cabinet and a
young prominent industrialist of Mumbai. The industrialist has just entered
into defence manufacturing, import and export. From a journalist to minister appears
to be a splendid journey but one has to serve his masters and, no doubt, that
is tougher than writing a story. g
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