Ramnath Goenka
| Ramnath Goenka | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 3, 1904 Darbhanga, Bihar, British India. |
| Died | October 5, 1991 (aged 87) Mumbai, Maharastra, India |
| Occupation | Media Businessman |
| Spouse | Moongibai Goenka |
| Website | |
| The Indian Express | |
Ramnath Goenka ( रामनाथ गोयंका )(April 3, 1904 – October 5, 1991) was a newspaper baron of India. He launched The Indian Express and created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications. In its 2000 millennium issue, India Today magazine, named him amongst "100 people Who Shaped India".[1]
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Goenka was born in Darbhanga district of Bihar. He completed his primary education in Varanasi. At the age of 15, he came to Chennai to learn the ropes of the business by venturing into the trade of yarn and jute. He was married to Moongibai.
In 1932, he took over the loss-making Madras edition of The Free Press Journal and drove the delivery van himself to dispatch the papers. He founded the Indian Express in 1936, and in 1941, he was elected President of the National Newspaper Editors’ Conference. Following this, both the Indian Express and Goenka openly challenged the British Raj.
In 1948, Daily Tej partnered with Goenka to publish Indian News Chronicle, an English daily, from New Delhi. After the death of Lala Deshbandhu Gupta, Goenka converted it as The Indian Express. Upon independence he was nominated as a member to the Constituent Assembly of India.
Goenka would always be remembered for his role during the "Emergency" in India and his crusade against Indira Gandhi. R. Ramakrishnan who used to work with him was also hailed by Jayaprakash Narayan for organising meetings against the emergency. His bitter fight against the business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani is still remembered. His critics believe that his passion for politics was the fire that led the newspapers from Indian Express Group on a blazing trail.
[edit] Early start In Partnership with Murliprasad Mohanprasad
He was born in Dildar Nagar Village, April l8, 1904. Goenka's mother died when he was six months old and he was adopted by his aunt who was widow of Basant Lal Goenka who had died in 1901 leaving a large business and several estates.
After graduating from Kashi Peeth, RNG joined the business of his maternal uncles Babu Prahlad Rai Dalmia and Babu Sagarmal Dalmia, brother of his adoptive mother - in Calcutta. The uncle later sent him to the firm of Sukhdevdoss Ramprasad in Calcutta, the largest Indian Firm dealing in yarn and piece goods. He came to Madras in 1922 as the agent of Sukhdevdoss Ramprasad.
END OF 1925 RNG entered into a business partnership with Murliprasad Mohanprasad of Hyderabad,India. The firm started business as piecegoods merchant in Godown Street, Madras in January 1926. The partnership continued till 1932-1933.[1]
1926: Goenka was subsequently nominated a member of the Madras Legislative Council by the then Governor.
RNG joined the Bombay Co. Ltd. as chief salesman, a post he held till the end of 1936. A keen racing enthusiast in his younger days, he gave up the pastime in 1935-36 and took to journalism in earnest.
End of 1934: RNG became a debenture. holder of the Free Press of India (Madras) Ltd., the - then owners of Indian Express.
- 1936: Goenka gave Promossory Note of Rs. 500000 ( Rs.Five Lakhs ) on Sept 1, 1936 in favour of Raja Mohan Prasad of Hyderabad his Financing Partner. The Promissory note still remains unpaid even after 75 years. Goenka also gave a declaration in 1936 that he was a trustee of all the properties purchased in his name including the debentures of Free Press of India (Madras) Ltd. and were purchased out of the monies of Raja Mohan Prasad Murliprasad Mohanprasad of Hyderabad,India.[2]
-
-
- Subsequently, he bought all the shares of the company for Rs. 2.5 lakh.
-
[edit] Heirs
Goenka had a son, B. D. Goenka who was slated to take over Indian Express, but died as a result of a cardiac arrest. Goenka's daughter, Krishna, who was married to A. M. Khaithan of the Calcutta Khaithan's, the worlds largest tea producers and battery manufacturer's through the ownership of Williamson Magor.[3] Another heir was Vivek Khaitan, who was adopted in 1990 and changed his name to Viveck Goenka, and is presently[when?] the Chairman and Managing Director of the Indian Express Limited. Another of Goenka's daughter married in to the Sonthailia family in Chennai. Her son Manoj Kumar Sonthalia runs The New Indian Express Group based in Chennai.
[edit] The battle against Dhirubhai Ambani
At one point in time, Goenka was a friend of Dhirubhai Ambani. Goenka was also considered to be close with Nusli Wadia. On many occasions, Goenka tried to intervene between the two warring factions and bring an end to the enmity. At one occasion, Goenka is believed to have said "Nusli is an Englishman. He cannot handle Ambani. I am a bania. I know how to finish him"
As the days passed by The Indian Express, a broadsheet daily published by him carried a series of articles against Reliance Industries and Dhirubhai in which they claimed that Dhirubhai was using unfair trade practices to maximise the profits. Goenka did not use his staff at the Indian Express to investigate the case but assigned his close confidant, advisor and chartered accountant S. Gurumurthy for this task. Apart from S. Gurumurthy, another journalist Maneck Davar who was not on the rolls of Indian Express started contributing stories.
The end to the tussle came only after Dhirubhai Ambani met with a stroke. While Dhirubhai Ambani was recovering in San Diego, his sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani managed the affairs. The Indian Express had turned the guns against Reliance and was directly blaming the government for not doing enough to penalise Reliance Industries. The battle between Wadia - Goenka and Ambanis took a new direction and became a national crisis.
[edit] Jan Sangh and BJP
Many people believe that Goenka was supporting the sister organizations of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Goenka’s best friends were Nanaji Deshmukh and the Rajmata of Gwalior, Vijayaraje Scindia both known supporters of RSS. His chief advisor was S. Gurumurthy, who has RSS links. His doctor and advisor was J. K. Jain (of Jain TV fame) who is a known Swaymsevak or Volunteer of RSS. His most famous editor was Arun Shourie, who later became a BJP minister. His lawyer was Arun Jaitley, who served V. P. Singh’s government in a legal capacity but found fame as a BJP minister.
[edit] Later years and death
Goenka continued his fight till his last days. After a prolonged illness, on October 5, 1991 Goenka died in Mumbai.
[edit] Biography
Warrior of the Fourth Estate, is the official biography of Goenka and is authored by BG Verghese. It has been published by Penguin, India. ISBN 0-67-005842-4 "Ramnath Goenka: A life in Black and White" is a coffee table book written on the personal life by his daughter-in-law Ananya Goenka. It has been published independently in 2005.
[edit] Media
He was portrayed as the ageing press baron, Manik Dasgupta, by Hindi film actor, Mithun Chakraborty in the 2007 Hindi movie, Guru (2007 film).
[edit] Further reading
The Goenka Letters: Behind the scenes in The Indian Express, T. J. S. George. 2006, East West Books, Madras. ISBN 9788188661503.
