Trip down 40 yrs of Punjabi Tribune

The birth of the Hindi and Punjabi editions of The Tribune this day in 1978 may be attributed to the Hindi-Punjabi agitation, which was a fall-out of the Partition in 1947. It did leave an unfortunate division of the united Punjab in two separate states of Haryana and Punjab way behind in 1966, but it was yet to witness the terrorism sparked by Khalistanis and Operation Bluestar in 1984 which led to Indira Gandhi's assassination on October 31, 1984. 

The introduction of the Punjabi Tribune was meant to balance the communal frenzy of the vernacular press of those days. The rumour about the Punjabi edition was in the air for a couple of years, but it clicked only after MS Randhawa joined as a member of The Tribune Trust in that year. 

Fortunately, The Tribune at that time was under the command of a stalwart journalist, Prem Bhatia, who had once earlier also taken up this responsibility in 1969 on return from Nairobi where he was the Indian Ambassador to Kenya since 1965. Bhatia was shrewd enough to pick up Barjinder Singh as editor to start the Punjabi Tribune. Before joining the Punjabi Tribune, Barjinder Singh was the founder-editor of Drishti, a monthly literary magazine. He had launched the magazine after falling out with his father Sadhu Singh Hamdard. Brajinder abandoned Drishti following the call from The Tribune Trust to head the new daily that was sure to have a wider impact on Punjabi readers. Starting the Punjabi Tribune was not a smooth affair as the Hindi lobby would not yield space for a Punjabi edition unless a Hindi edition was brought out simultaneously. Again, it was the intervention of the resolute MS Randhawa that got the matter resolved amicably and it was decided to bring out both the editions. 

The publication of the Punjabi Tribune made an instant mark on the readers, with its credible and secular approach that was also welcomed by the Leftist sections of the region. They were the ones who popularised and propagated the newspaper in the far-flung rural areas of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. 

Being the first-ever newspaper to give an honorarium to its contributors, prominent authors with journalistic prudence started writing for this newspaper and made its foundation durable enough. 

The sober and adventurous Barjinder Singh, who was in his thirties at that time, was keen to outdo his father, the founder of the Ajit daily. He weathered the initial handicaps with his pleasant approach to men and matters. He was the one who handled the Khalistani threats with tact and patience. I am witness to his keeping a revolver in the dashboard of his car while driving in and out of station during the dark days of Punjab. 

This steady progress was halted, though, with the sudden demise of Barjinder Singh's father Sadhu Singh Hamdard when the son, perforce, had to take the reins of the Ajit in Jalandhar. The time was the late eighties of the previous century. 

It was then that I was approached to take up the thread left by Barjinder at the bidding of MS Randhawa. Prem Bhatia was known to me from my New Delhi days. Unfortunately, while I was seeking leave from the Government of India to take up the new assignment with the Tribune Trust, censorship was enforced on the newspapers of Punjab in the wake of Indira Gandhi's murder. From a journalistic angle, however, it was a blessing in disguise for The Tribune Trust that it was based in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Since they could carry all material without any censoring, the circulation of these newspapers, especially that of the Punjabi Tribune which was competing with Jalandhar press, shot up unprecedentedly.

A little after I joined the Punjabi Tribune, however, the censorship was lifted to my dismay and those fond of wanton reading went back to their original papers of Jalandhar origin. It goes to the credit of The Tribune Trust that it took all these developments in its stride and stood the ground with dignity without compromising with its secular and liberal approach withstanding the pressure from militant organisations and other illiberal elements of Punjabi society. It also goes to the credit of Punjabi readers for sticking to their values in all kinds of onslaughts that had been taking place every now and then from times immemorial, Punjab being the border state. 

One of the most spectacular reasons for the success of the Tribune Trust publications is that its editorials and Oped page articles bear the stamp of all the three editors of the Trust. Irrespective of the editors coming and going frequently, the practice of holding a joint meeting in the morning to chalk out the programme of the day continues. The established convention is to have an equal say of the editors of the Punjabi and Hindi editions with a view to taking an appropriate line. The vernacular language editors are free to take a different line for their readers, but it should be in consonance with the core values of the Tribune Trust. 

This healthy and positive approach has drawn the best of talent to write for the Punjabi Tribune. Having been the editor of two Punjabi language dailies — the Punjabi Tribune and the Desh Sewak — I can say with authority that the young writers feel satisfied and okay only after their writing is accepted by the Punjabi Tribune for publication. 

I have been an avid reader of The Tribune since the 50s when I was a undergraduate student at Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur) and through my post-graduation days in Camp College, New Delhi. It is very rarely that I find it getting strayed from its vision and views. To err is human goes the adage, though. 

I am sure the language readers will continue to have the same satisfaction from the Punjabi Tribune in the times to come as my generation got from reading The Tribune.