Durga Das (23 November 1900 – 17 May 1974) was an Indian journalist.[1][2][3][4] He was the founding president of the Press Club of India.[5] A longtime parliamentary correspondent and editor with the Associated Press of India,[6] he worked in several newspaper publications, including The Statesman, The Times of India and lastly the Hindustan Times,[7][8] serving as its editor-in-chief from 1957 till 1959 before he went on to establish his own news agency, India News and Feature Alliance (INFA) in late 1959.[9]
Early life and education
Durga Das was born on 23 November 1900 in Aur, a village in present-day Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. He attended an Arya Samaj-run school in Jalandhar[10] and graduated with a bachelor's degree from Dayanand Anglo Vedic College (now Government Islamia College) in late 1910s.[11]
Career
After graduating from Dayanand Anglo Vedic College, he joined the Associated Press of India in 1918 and served as its Parliamentary Correspondent till 1937. He later joined the Calcutta-based The Statesman as its Special Representative[4] and worked there till 1943. In 1944, he joined the Hindustan Times[12] and went on to serve as its editor-in-chief from 1957 till 1959, before taking temporary retirement to establish organisations like the Press Club of India and India News and Feature Alliance (INFA).
During his five decades long journalistic career, he interacted with numerous political figures, including Viscount Chelmsford, Louis Mountbatten, Bal Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.[1]
He is said to have preferred Vallabhbhai Patel, not Nehru, to become the first Prime Minister of India.[13] He had authored three books, Ram Rajya in Action (1956), India and the World (1958) and India From Curzon to Nehru and After (1969).[14][15] The book India From Curzon to Nehru and After has been described as "reporter's fiction" and that it relies "on gossip, not history".[16]
Personal life
Das was married to Ratan Devi,[17] and they had four sons and two daughters. He liked playing tennis and enjoyed swimming.[18]
Death and legacy
Durga Das died on 17 May 1974 due to cardiac arrest in New Delhi, India. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent condolences to his family. President V. V. Giri also sent condolences and described him as "one of my best friends in life" and a "great journalist".[19]
In 2003, nearly 29 years after his death, the Indian government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee released a commemorative stamp in his honour.[20]
His apparent bias in favour of Vallabhbhai Patel continues to be noted by the authors who have reviewed his work.[21][22]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 DUNA DAS DEAD; INDIAN NEWSMAN. The New York Times(18 May 1974). Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ↑ India's Journalists Worry They Have Become Timid and Dependent on the Government. The New York Times(17 December 1973). Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ↑ Déjà View | A Nehruvian tragedy, Vadukut, Sidin. mint(27 June 2014). Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Debates{{#if:Assembly|, Assembly}. Meghalaya Legislative Assembly(1974)
- ↑ Shams Tabrez Qasmi is Felicitated with Amar Shaheed Molvi Baqar Award 2021 | Millat Times | Multilingual Digital Media House. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ↑ Famous India, Nation's Who's who{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Famous India Publications(1975)
- ↑ EDITOR SAYS INDIA IS FOR DEMOCRACIES. The New York Times(6 June 1950). Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ↑ Leading the change, again. Hindustan Times(14 July 2009). Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ↑ India News and Features Alliance (INFA) - INFA. www.infa.in. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ↑ War over Words: Censorship in India, 1930-1960{{#if:Sethi|, Sethi}. Cambridge University Press(23 May 2019). ISBN 978-1-108-48424-4
- ↑ A Superior Person, Thorough Professional. Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust(18 July 2016). Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ↑ Lessons from 1952, 1967, 1977. The Indian Express(17 March 2019). Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ↑ India-Pakistan: An analysis of some structural factors{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Odense University Press(1998)
- ↑ Eminent Indians who was Who, 1900-1980, Also Annual Diary of Events{{#if:Das|, Das}. Durga Das Pvt. Limited(1985)
- ↑ Ram Rajya in action{{#if:Das|, Das}. Coronation Print. Works(1956)
- ↑ Political Thinkers of Modern India: Jawaharlal Nehru{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Deep & Deep Publications(1993). ISBN 9788171002535
- ↑ The Illustrated Weekly of India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press(1975)
- ↑ Personalities: A Comprehensive and Authentic Biographical Dictionary of Men who Matter in India [Northern India and Parliament]{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Arunam & Sheel(1950)
- ↑ India News and Features Alliance (INFA) - INFA. infa.in. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ↑ Caricaturing Culture in India: Cartoons and History in the Modern World{{#if:Khanduri|, Khanduri}. Cambridge University Press(2 October 2014). ISBN 978-1-107-04332-9
- ↑ The post - centenary volumes of Patel's miscellaneous writings which are now being brought out are free from the bias which Durga Das and others invested in the main volumes on Patel.{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Triveni Publishers(1981)
- ↑ Magnus & Muses: Off the Record Musings of "MC" (M. Chalapathi Rau){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Academic Press(1980)