Remembering Vinod Dua

For many, Vinod was ‘ fearless’. He wasn’t. He was a part of the establishment and he sounded more like an urban Naxal, not as a journalist in pursuit of truth during his last years.

We lost a well-known media personality, Vinod Dua, yesterday. I had known him for over three decades, and his untimely demise has left me sad. He was full of life and a karma yogi. 

However, his ‘ journalism ‘ was shaped by the ideology he believed in. During his last years, he sounded more like an urban Naxal, not as a journalist in pursuit of truth. 

Over the years, Vinod Dua’s heavily biased views overshadowed his journalism. He ignored inconvenient facts or twisted them to suit his narrative. No wonder, in such a scenario, the truth was the first casualty. But he couldn’t care less. 

Can we call him a journalist? I am afraid not. He was essentially a political campaigner, wedded to his worldview. For him, Modi & RSS couldn’t do anything right, and communists / Jihadis/evangelists did nothing wrong. 

For many, Vinod was ‘ fearless’. He wasn’t. He was a part of the establishment. 

In post-independence India, the ‘Left’ is the establishment. This self-hating creed still dominates the media and academia. They have the power to set a national narrative. 

Here is an illustration. Commies, along with British and Jihadis, were responsible for creating an Islamic Pakistan. For this ‘ Establishment’, Commies are not only supersecular, but they are also the ones ‘authorised’ to issue certificates of being secular/ Communal to individuals and organisations. 

Look at the irony: those who created ‘ Pakistan’ are ‘secular’, and those seeking a Ram temple in Ayodhya are ‘ Communal ‘. 

Vinod was a part and beneficiary of this establishment for a long. He usually toed the establishment line – may be out of conviction or other considerations – I am not sure. 

However, Vinod was a good, vibrant and entertaining company as a person. He had a sense of humour and a capacity to laugh at himself. I will surely miss him and mourn his untimely departure from this world.