Jawaharal Nehru comes to mind as the first Prime Minister of India who hoisted the national flag on ramparts of the Red Fort 17 times and was an effective leader of the masses. His was a colourful personality. Many women came into his life but he never contemplated making any one of them his bride. Most of the women were mature and some were married to other men and a break up was beyond the wildest imagination of even Don Juan. After all the political career of the popular Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy was at stake.

Did the Media let them have their private love lives flourishing in the closet, remain secret. Never. I recall how the scribes and lens men followed Nehru from the London airport to the house of the Mountbattens and the next morning newspapers showed pictures of Edwina Mountbatten receiving Nehru in her night dress with the main door half open and half closed. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India was busy elsewhere. The Media was not castigated for this intrusion into privacy of Jawaharlal and Edwina. It won appreciation of common man for making them a privy to a private matter that had been talk of the town for long.

Of course, the British have their own theory of the use of this term, Fourth Estate. According  to the opinion of Thomas Carlyle it was Edmund Burke who used the term Fourth Estate forthe first time in the House of Commons. The phrase gained recognition and popularity and was used lavishly to denote the Print Media of the Press.

When a despotic king recognised the potential of the Press and addressed them as a class, Fourth Estate, he did not impose a code of conduct on them. Where no outsider is permitted to peek in, the electronic media extends its reach and is welcome in the bedroom too. Should the Press be prevented from covering a broken marriage of a public person? If yes, to what extent? Those who advocate freedom of the Press, will go all out to say Yes. However, a Lakshman Rekha will have to be drawn. Protecting the privacy of public persons, one will lay down a limit and say Thus far and no further.Since Omar has made a plea in public that the tradition of respecting the privacy of public personalities should be followed in his case too. In any case the two young sons of the estranged couple deserve protection of their privacy and the Media would not grudge them this right.

Before I say bye to you, let me say that as a believer in democracy, freedom of thought and expression, I would say that nothing should be done to curb the rights of the Media for unhindered coverage of whatever the Editor thinks is worth covering.