Shekhar Gupta: Because freedom can't be salami-sliced

The media can disagree, fight and judge itself. But it can survive and thrive only by closing ranks when its freedoms are under attack

Over the past 50 years, India has seen three powerful full-term prime ministers with a majority. The first was Indira Gandhi after her March 1971 sweep. The second was Rajiv Gandhi in 1984. Now we have the third, Narendra Modi, who is about to step into his fifth year as PM.

Think about the one thing you can find common among the governments the three led. 

Let me drop some “phone-a-friend”-type hints. Think of what each of these tried in the last year of its term.

Still guessing? Here is a second hint. Think like a journalist.

Fact: Each of these targeted the media