Strengthening India our aim: H.K. Dua

Strengthening India our aim: H.K. Dua
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 24
The Tribune will support all policies that are aimed at making India a great nation. At the same time, it reserves the right to criticise where necessary.

Stating this during the inauguration of the 125th anniversary celebrations of The Tribune here today, the Editor-in-Chief, Mr H.K. Dua, said throughout its existence, the newspaper had stood for democracy and a plural society where no one was discriminated against for the reason of his birth. He said The Tribune was opposed to the misuse of religion for politics, casteism, criminalisation of politics and corruption.

Mr Dua said during the past 125 years, The Tribune had been a witness to momentous events. It reported on the two World Wars, the growth of nationalism in India, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Quit India Movement, the dawn of Independence, the Partition of the subcontinent and many more historic events which shaped the history of modern India.

“Despite its ups and downs, The Tribune always held its head high,” the Editor-in-Chief said “Since the birth of independent India, the paper’s nation-building efforts had been relentless as the country went ahead, arming itself with the constitution, parliamentary democracy, and independent judiciary and the right to free expression which, in effect, means the freedom of the Press,” he added.

He said The Tribune had not failed to exercise this right even under difficult circumstances. “We are not afraid to criticise wherever necessary. We are not shy of praising where it is due,” he remarked.

“The Tribune has been a part of life for most of us here,” he said. “Whether visible or not, some of our ideas may have been shaped by the events reported in The Tribune and the ideas disseminated by this paper over the decades”, he said.

Delving into the early days of The Tribune, Mr Dua said the newspaper’s founder, Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, wanted to make his contribution to the national cause even if it involved personal sacrifice. He thought that there had to be an answer to the Civil and Military Gazette, which was the mouthpiece of the British raj. “The vision of Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, the ideas of the Renaissance movement, particularly the idea of freedom that was at a nascent stage, brought about the birth of The Tribune,” he said.

Over the years, Mr Dua said, The Tribune had stood for the people of India. As the idea of freedom grew in strength, The Tribune also grew and earned the love and affection of readers, which it still enjoyed. He also read out a message received from the President of India on the occasion.