A historian's tribute

A history of a newspaper that places it in the context of the history of the years that it covered.

On February 2, 1881, The Tribune began publication as a weekly from Lahore before it became a daily. It was founded by a visionary, Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia. He had no commercial axe to grind. He willed that the paper be run by a public trust and not by any family or corporate body. The Tribune has lived up to his expectations as a witness to history.

It was all too appropriate therefore that its history be written by one of India's foremost historians, V.N. Datta, Professor Emeritus from Kurukshetra University, Haryana, a former president of the Indian History Congress, and author of several acclaimed works on history. There can be no greater tribute to his history of The Tribune than that its founder would have been proud of it if he were alive today. Prof. Datta has spared himself no pains, whether in archival research or extensive interviews, in writing this very thorough history of the newspaper, placing it in the context of the history of the years it covered. Its founder was a man deeply involved in the social, political and economic life of Lahore.

Clause XX of Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia's will, appended to the book, created a trust to run The Tribune. Clause XXI enjoined the trustees to maintain the press and newspaper in an efficient condition, keeping up the liberal policy of the said newspaper The Dyal Singh Public Library, which the will also set up, exists still in Lahore, a testimony to the vision of this legendary man. The Tribune began as a weekly. The daily now has a Hindi and a Punjabi edition as well.

Prof. Datta mentions the controversies in which the newspaper, like any other journal, was involved and the circumstances which promoted a more assertive nationalist line. Important as is the newspaper's coverage of national events, it is even more so for its reportage of Punjab politics. The Tribune's last editorial published from Lahore on August 14, 1947, was entitled Pakistan a Non-Communal State. It took its cue from Jinnah's famous speech on August 11, 1947. The Tribune became a casualty of Partition, the author writes and proceeds to describe its travails. The first issue after Partition appeared from Shimla on September 25, 1947. It shifted to Ambala where J. Natarajan served as its editor with distinction for a decade until he was hounded out by Pratap Singh Kairon's goons. This writer would like to record his debt to Natarajan, who, as Assistant Editor of The Indian Express, accepted his first column in 1961. The Tribune found a permanent home in Chandigarh on June 25, 1969. It has many an achievement to its credit. But its greatest was under editor R. Madhavan Nair's brave stand during the Emergency. This book is an inspiring record of a newspaper's commitment to values.