New Delhi, January 19
While conceding ‘irresponsible journalism’ to be a dampener, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has once again ruled out any kind of monitoring, regulation or censorship of the media. The media, he said, ought to reprimand the government, whenever necessary, but added in a more lighter vein that “it should not always be gloom and doom”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (C) with (from left) The Tribune Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa, Trustees of The Tribune Trust, Justice (retd) SS Sodhi, RS Talwar (President), NN Vohra, Lt Gen (retd) SS Mehta and Naresh Mohan during the release of the book ‘The Tribune 130 years: A Witness to History’ at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

The Prime Minister was addressing a large gathering at Vigyan Bhavan after releasing “The Tribune 130 years: A Witness to History”, a volume brought out to mark 130 years of uninterrupted publication of the newspaper.

Authored by noted historian Prof V N Datta, the volume chronicles the momentous and exciting journey of the newspaper, which was launched at Lahore on February 2, 1881.

The eclectic gathering at Vigyan Bhavan included Union ministers P Chidambaram, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Ambika Soni, Kapil Sibal, Selja and V Narayanasamy, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Seated on the dais in the company of the PM were the trustees of The Tribune-RS Talwar (President), Justice (Retd) SS Sodhi, NN Vohra, Lt-Gen (Retd) SS Mehta, Naresh Mohan and the Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune Group of Newspapers, Raj Chengappa.

The President of The Tribune Trust, RS Talwar, said the newspaper, during the130 years of its existence, has been a witness to the tumultuous history of the subcontinent, chronicling events and guiding its readers through historic changes while voicing their concerns. After independence also, The Tribune has continued to retain its distinctive character and preserve its autonomy, objectivity, fairness and liberal and independent way of thinking, whatever the odds, he added.

Hailing Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, the founder of the newspaper, as a man of rare foresight, the PM said he was inspired by high ideals and wanted The Tribune to be free of any sectarian or commercial bias, and unaligned to any dogma or political party. ‘’I am happy that the newspaper has by and large lived up to its founder’s vision,” he said.

The PM said that while glancing through the pages of ‘A Witness to History’, he was struck by the words of an avid reader of the newspaper, who wrote to the daily on September 25, 1947, the day The Tribune resumed publication from Shimla, after Partition had forced it to move out of Lahore. The reader wrote: “The heart of Punjab has begun to beat again, though the pulse is yet faint.’’

The PM said the government believed in the freedom of the media from external control. “It is true that sometimes irresponsible journalism can have serious consequences for social harmony and public order, which the public authorities have an obligation to maintain, but censorship is no answer.’’ It was for the ‘Fourth Estate’ to collectively ensure that objectivity was promoted and sensationalism curbed, he added.