G. K. Reddy Memorial National Award presented posthumously to Vinod Mehta.

Saluting the fearless journalism of “the most sacked editor,” Vinod Mehta, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday hoped the younger generation of journalists would draw inspiration from his life and fight bigotry and obscurantism with the same courage and fearlessness.

She was addressing the G. K. Reddy Memorial National Award function, in which Vinod Mehta was posthumously awarded in the presence of the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. The award was presented to his wife Sumita Mehta. It was instituted by T.S.R. Foundation founded by Rajya Sabha member T. Subbarami Reddy, a nephew of G.K. Reddy.

“In the present climate, when dissent is being stifled, when the minorities feel increasingly insecure, when the secular fabric of our society is threatened, when bigotry and obscurantism seem to flourish unchecked, we miss Vinod Mehta’s voice,” Ms. Gandhi said.

'Words carried weight'

Recalling Vinod Mehta as an eloquent advocate of India’s pluralistic society, Ms. Gandhi said he had an instinctive understanding of what the freedom of press meant to India — that it is the cornerstone of Indian democracy and that without this freedom, all other liberties will be threatened. His trademark irreverence, wit, self-deprecation and cynicism ensured that his words carried weight and so the Congress often found his criticism of the party constructive, she said.

Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh said it was in The Hindu where G.K. Reddy made his mark.