A Journalist has no caste and religion.

Gustakhi Maaf Haryana-Pawan Kumar Bansal

A Journalist has no caste and religion.
A journalist, if true to the craft, belongs to no caste, no faction, no narrow identity. Their only allegiance is to truth—and in that truth, all stand equal.
This is a story from nearly three decades ago. I was then a young reporter with Jansatta, stationed in Rohtak. Those were the days when a major wheat scam had gripped Haryana, stirring conversations in markets, homes, and government corridors alike. At the center of the storm was R.K. Ranga, the Regional Manager of the Food Corporation of India, who was eventually arrested.
The turning point came with a report I had written. Published in Jansatta, it caught the attention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which took suo motu cognizance and ordered a CBI inquiry. For a journalist, such moments affirm the power—and responsibility—of the written word.
Yet, not everyone saw it that way.
A friend of mine, a Dalit officer, confronted me one day. There was disappointment in his voice, perhaps even accusation. He said I was targeting a Dalit officer.
I listened, and then responded quietly.
“Look at the larger picture,” I told him. “This scam drove up the price of wheat—the staple food of millions. It is the poor, especially Dalits, who suffer the most from such inflation. People like me can still afford grain even at ₹100 a kilo. But those who struggle daily—what of them?”
I paused before adding, “If anything, the immediate loss from my report was borne by my own community—the traders.”
There was silence after that. Not the kind filled with argument, but the kind that carries understanding. My friend lowered his gaze, perhaps reflecting on the weight of what had been said.
Journalism is not a mirror of identity; it is a mirror of reality. It does not ask who you are—it asks what is true.
A journalist has no caste. And if they ever begin to see the world through that lens, they cease to be journalists at all.