Tehelka Magazine (India)

Founded by Tarun Tejpal in 2000, Tehelka's reputation has matched the very definition of the Urdu word from which it takes its name: a tumult, rumpus, or sensational piece of writing. Originating as the investigative news website http://Tehelka.com, Tehelka attracted attention first in 2001 by exposing match-fixing in cricket, India's iconic national game.

The organization's name recognition grew that same year with its involvement in the biggest political scandal in India's history to date: Operation West End. This sting operation revealed corruption in the awarding of Indian defense contracts, reaching the upper echelons of the Indian government. Wired Tehelka reporters posed as arms suppliers from a fictional company, West End, and the resulting “Tehelka Tapes,” as they became known, revealed political figures accepting large-scale bribes for contracts. Defense Minister George Fernandes resigned, although further investigation exonerated him.

As a result, the Indian government launched a nearly 3-year campaign against Tehelka, using search warrants for income tax compliance to access http://Tehelka.com offices. Its ranks were decimated by governmental repression. Its staff of 120 dwindled to 1, and the company faced bankruptcy.

Undeterred, Tejpal relaunched Tehelka in 2003 as a weekly newspaper funded by donations. In 2007, Tehelka added a revamped web news portal. In late 2007, the organization became involved in another well-known sting: Operation Kalank. This time, Tehelka reporters captured on-tape confessions of those who had perpetrated violence during the 2002 anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat State. These pogroms followed a devastating fire that killed dozens of Hindu pilgrims, including 20 children, in a train carriage at Godhra railway station, Gujarat, in February 2002. Tehelka reporters discovered that what had been officially defined as [Page 522]spontaneous revenge riots were part of a state-sanctioned conspiracy: a pogrom against Muslims supported by the Gujarat State government. Members of the Sangh Parivar, a rightist Hindu nationalist organization very active in Gujarat, denied involvement despite being caught on tape bragging about their roles in the riots.

Labeled by the Indian government as muckraking journalism for its use of hidden cameras in undercover investigations, and repeatedly harassed by government authorities, Tehelka's commitment to uncovering truth and promoting justice through its exposés did not waiver. Tehelka billed itself “The People's Paper,” and the term fits. The organization earned the respect of vocal Indian activists, such as Arundhati Roy. The British newspaper The Guardian called Tehelka one of India's best news sources, whereas the BBC acknowledged that Tehelka's trenchant journalism had pushed the boundaries of Indian news. Time magazine, too, suggested that Tehelka lived up to its name. Tehelka's brand stands for independence and fearlessness in public interest journalism and suggests that independent media can fight endemic corruption. As it exposes the challenges to freedom and democracy in India today, Tehelka's very existence indicates that democracy is indeed possible.