What is the ultimate message? That certain people in this country are above the law and they are untouchable… The worrying part is that the courts are reluctant to deal with this.
By taking up three cases: the Birla papers, the Sahara papers and Pul’s note, (the writers) have conclusively demonstrated the nexus between politicians, businessmen, lawyers, judges, and by our silence, journalists. The nexus is at every level, institution, region… it cuts across political parties and professions… This book documents so well that the premises underlying reforms have turned out to be wrong… There is a serious issue and Loose Pages is a very fine way to attract our attention to that… The cancer cells are spread by the doctors themselves.
Sourya and Paranjoy have produced a fascinating work of investigative journalism… They weave an intricate tapestry which depicts a dystopian image of an ecosystem in which you see the various organs of the state and big business in an illicit relationship… The book raises some difficult questions to which there are no easy answers but the very act of formulating those questions… constitutes the first step in our collective quest for a solution.
This book… is a document that implicates both of the country’s biggest parties… The issue it speaks of is almost in the design of liberal democracies… The structures that give rise to a nexus that affects the environment, the daily lives of small people and the everyday governance by whichever viable party you choose to elect… This document is one that speaks at a time when it is vital to speak... because it shows how our institutions have failed us spectacularly… The only thing left is for writers and journalists to document this and take it to the people.
In what way does this period, under the Modi administration since 2014, differ from what has preceded? I think the simple answer is that we have lost all sense of shame... That same sense of shame is today apparent in every aspect of public life. What this book documents is that the same shame has come to areas such as corruption, governance, law, investigations—it pervades every aspect of this government.
This book is undoubtedly a well-researched one… It clearly manifests a situation where the citizenry has to wake up and be counted. It provides ample material for such awakening and is a “must read.”
Loose Pages is essentially an excellent work of investigative journalism that adds another chapter to the story of India’s age of crony capitalism…In uncovering every aspect of this unsavoury set of findings what Sourya Majumder and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta have really done is to show (yet again) the rotten insides of India’s state machinery – of a dysfunctional government which is incapable or unwilling to act against crony capitalism.
Loose Pages is a rough guide to Indian democracy – or what ails it. The book shows how easily the political class, their crony capitalists, top investigators, and even the courts, can ignore the obvious. The book presents a mountain of documentary proof for readers to figure out if it really amounts to what the court termed as “zero evidence.” There is nothing new about businessmen bribing politicians but Loose Pages shows that the degree of their audacity is simply breathtaking.
This book… is an absolutely fascinating account which will be important for every person who wants to understand not only the state of corruption in the country but also the manner in which courts deal with such cases and the conflicts of interest that are involved. This is a book which is highly relevant for our contemporary times since it sheds important and fascinating light on some of the most powerful players in the country… I would recommend this book to every citizen who is concerned about the state of our institutions and the future of India.
