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More news from India: Naipaul speaks out on the Tehelka issue:

Creating a fresh flutter, Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul on Tuesday expressed his "profound" disappointment over the treatment of Tehelka by the Centre [i.e. the national government of India] and said he expected that at some point in time the government will withdraw from the "sorry state of affairs", admitting its "lack of graciousness."

"I am profoundly disappointed over what happened to Tehelka, which can damage the country," Naipaul, one of the Directors on the Board of Tehelka, said.

Concerned over the "crushing of intellectual life" in the country, he said writers and books were not the only ones which could make the country look into itself but good journalism is very important for the process.

However, Naipaul, who was accompanied by his wife Nadira and Tehelka Managing Editor Tarun Tejpal at the press conference, said he still had confidence in and goodwill for the BJP even after what happened to Tehelka and Gujarat.

"Tehelka was a mistake by the government," he said.

(Read the whole story in the Economic Times.)