Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

PM's Speech at Release of a Commemorative Stamp on late Shri Durga Das

~I am pleased to be with all of you this evening to pay tribute to the late Shri Durga Das, an outstanding figure in Indian journalism. I commend the Department of Posts for honoring him by bringing out a commemorative stamp.

Journalism these days has become so fast-paced that it is not often that we recall the great names from yesteryears. To people of my generation, Durga Das was certainly one such tall name. He served in his profession for over fifty years – nearly equally divided between a period before Independence and that after Independence. He wrote with much acclaim on both domestic and international affairs.

It is said that the best of journalism reads like ~history in fast forward~. This is true about what Durga Das wrote. For such a person, work and life become inseparable. Which is why, even after Durga Das left active journalism, love for the written word didn’t leave him.

At the request of the prestigious Navjivan Trust of Ahmedabad, he undertook the difficult task of editing the complete correspondence of Sardar Patel, with whom he had a close rapport, in 10 bulky volumes. Each volume ran into 500-600 pages.

Friends, Journalism has changed a lot since the time of editors like Durga Das. I was also an editor those days – though, I must admit, not as well known as he was.

But if one thing has not changed in all these decades, it is the people’s expectation that what they read is credible and truthful. Credibility is the greatest asset of a journalist and a newspaper – and I should hasten to add, also of TV channels.

Today there is a surfeit of newspapers and TV channels. All are engaged in a race for readers and viewers. But it is useful to remember that, in the end, only those names and products of journalism survive the test of time that also meet the test of credibility.

These days there is even a new breed of journalists called ~embedded journalists~. I do not wish to comment on this new phenomenon. Except to say that journalism should be embedded only in Truth and Professional Values.

If we remember and honour a journalist like Durga Das decades after he passed away, it is because he set high standards of dedication and professional excellence.

Truly, Durga Das ought to have been honoured long back. Any way, Shri Arun Shourie, himself an outstanding name in Indian journalism, has done the right thing by deciding to bring out a commemorative stamp in his honour.

As we say in Hindi, ~Der aayad durast aayad.~ Thank you.~