Dainik Tribune, never losing humane touch

Chander Trikha
Senior journalist

It was in 1988 that I first visited Pakistan. While in Lahore, I made it a point to visit the legendary building from where the voice of this region, The Tribune, was published from 1881 till the partition of the country uprooted it. In 1988, it was home to The Pakistan Times.

As a journalist, visiting that place was no less than a pilgrimage. I had carried a few copies of The Tribune, Dainik Tribune and the Punjabi Tribune for the editor of The Pakistan Times, Khalid Hussain. He and his colleagues were thrilled to know that the newspaper that had evolved as a fearless voice had now grown into a publishing house for newspapers of three languages. Obviously, they could not read two of them, but as seasoned newspapermen they did not fail to appreciate the layout and were happy to learn about the content that included emphasis on literature and culture.

This naturally veered the conversationto the past when the vernacular press of Lahore — Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi — was sharply divided on communal lines. Even the literary supplements of the times would reflect this divide, with each representing the creative genius of their own and rarely focusing on the literary trends that were common to the society.

This legacy of the communal divide was carried forward when newspapers owned by Hindus and Sikhs came to Jalandhar after Partition. I explained to them how this communalism fanned by those newspapers ultimately led to another division of Punjab in 1966 and how when a decade or so later, the arrival of the Dainik Tribune and the Punjabi Tribune brought in a fresh outlook to news, literature, culture and life in general. It purged the narrow divide that afflicted the society and for the first time, a newspaper came to represent the regional spirit within the greater consciousness of India. As I explained these trends, I think I saw barely hidden signs of envy. The Tribune group had once again taken a lead in the exercise of nation-building! I felt taller because of my association with the region in general and The Tribune in particular.

In all this, the Dainik Tribune made a niche for itself that drew the best journalists and contributors of the times. Led  by Radhe Shyam Sharma and the very versatile Ramesh Nayyar, it made itself known for its objectivity and fearless expression of opinion. They always tempered the subjects in a manner that the humane aspect of the debate was never lost. Under their guidance, Vijay Sehgal, Satyanand Shakir, Ved Bansal, Renuka Nayyar and others blossomed not only as journalists but also as creative writers and critics of high quality. All of them went on to create a space of their own beyond the boundaries of The Tribune, which in my opinion is of great value. The literary supplements of the Sunday editions of the paper were highly valued and a collector's pride since they carried the best of contemporary literature.

The Dainik Tribune was also liberal in giving space to young and unknown writers and encouraged them to aim for excellence. As a consequence, it had a high standing among the thinking readers and there is hardly any writer worth the name who was not given a break by it. The book reviews were written by eminent people and their reviews determined the image of the writer and the status of that book. These traditions continue to be the hallmark of the newspaper and there is hardly an author who does not crave for a space or a mention in the literary columns. It had thus not only radically deviated from the narrow walls that had played such a destructive role in the history of the region but also established new norms of excellence.

I became associated with the Dainik Tribune during its early years as a correspondent and I can say without fear of contradiction that during almost 15 years of my association with it there was hardly any occasion where a correspondent or a contributor was allowed to be reckless. The Desk was careful about the need for objectivity and the relevance of the subject matter. A special feature of this was that even though most of the staff working on the Desk was in some way a creative writer, yet none allowed his personal views and opinions to interfere with the report on his Desk. Each news report and views was treated with the respect and attention that it deserved. These gentlemen were often invited to seminars and talks but they made it a point that they never wore their 'Tribune-man' identity on their sleeves. This tradition continues to be the hallmark of the Dainik Tribune.

In a world where the medium and the message both have undergone revolutionary changes, the Dainik Tribune too has been under pressure of fast-evolving technologies, but it has resisted to succumb to the temptation of diminishing the literary space. Not only the Jalandhar papers but also national papers have drastically cut space for literature. Happily, the Dainik Tribune continues to stand tall. This explains why the folk culture of Punjab, Himachal and Haryana continues to find space in its columns.

It is a matter of pride and satisfaction that even when the whole world has changed, The Tribune group of papers keeps the spirit of the founder and the institution that he dreamt of not only alive and thriving but also ceaselessly inspiring others to uphold those ideals.