Nagpur: As the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Legislature unfolds in the Second Capital, a painful and disturbing episode from a decade ago has resurfaced, shaking the conscience of the media fraternity. The Vishakha Committee’s recent indictment of Dr Makarand Vyawahare, Head of the Forensic Medicine Department at Mayo Hospital, for alleged misconduct with a woman doctor, has revived the chilling story of the secret “Operation Editor Calls” – a chapter that still burns with shame and betrayal.
Years ago, when the woman doctor gathered courage to file a complaint of gross misbehaviour – involving a powerful accused linked to an influential Vidarbha politician – journalists began investigating the case. The allegations were serious, the victim was brave, and the media was expected to stand firmly with her. But what happened next exposed journalism’s darkest face.
Gold Rate
09 dec 2025
Within a single day, four editors made four separate phone calls to their reporters with the same instruction:
“Don’t publish this story.”
At a time when the Fourth Estate should have championed truth, these editors allegedly worked to bury it — smothering facts under political pressure, personal connections, and the greed for advertising revenue. The attempt was not merely to suppress news; it was a brutal assault on the very soul of journalism. That betrayal remains unforgettable.
Although the accused doctor was temporarily transferred following the complaint, political patronage soon brought him back to Mayo Hospital with a clean slate. A decade passed, governments changed, assemblies met and adjourned — yet the lesson remains unchanged: integrity becomes worthless when power dictates the narrative.
Today, as new allegations surface and the Vishakha Committee’s findings have reignited the controversy, a much larger question looms:
When truth is silenced, and editors themselves muzzle reporters, where does democracy stand?
Some of these same editors still occupy grand stages preaching ethics, accountability, and free press, lamenting the decline of print media and blaming digital disruption. But the truth is harsh — it was not the readers who weakened journalism, it was journalists who betrayed readers.
The downfall began the day the four phone calls crushed public trust.
The woman doctor has once again stepped forward. But the case now reflects more than personal injustice — it exposes journalism’s internal decay. An X-ray of the media stands before the public, revealing a bruised, compromised, and frighteningly hollow structure.
Where the foundations of journalism crumble, democracy limps. And this episode is a glaring admission of that collapse.
One lesson stands unchallenged:
Suppressing truth may buy time, but history always delivers its verdict.
