Vinod Dua (11 March 1954 – 4 December 2021) was an Indian journalist who worked in Doordarshan and NDTV India. In 1996, he became the first electronic media journalist to be bestowed with the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award. He was awarded the Padma Shri for Journalism in 2008 by the Government of India.[1] In June 2017, for his lifetime achievement in the field of journalism, Mumbai Press Club awarded him RedInk Award, which was presented to Dua by Devendra Fadnavis, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra.[2]

Vinod Dua
Dua at a function in Delhi
Born(1954-03-11)11 March 1954
Died4 December 2021(2021-12-04) (aged 67)
EducationUniversity of Delhi (BA, MA)
OccupationJournalist
SpousePadmavati Dua (died 2021)
Children2, including Mallika
Awards

Early life

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Vinod Dua's early upbringing was in the refugee colonies of Delhi. His parents were Saraiki Hindus migrated from Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after the Partition of India in 1947.[citation needed] In his school and college days, Dua participated in a number of singing and debate events, and he also did theatres until the mid-1980s.[citation needed] Sutradhar Puppet of Sri Ram Center for Art and Culture performed two plays that were written by Dua for the children.[citation needed] He was a member of a street theatre group, Theatre Union, which produced plays against the social issues, such as dowry.[3]

He graduated with a degree in English literature from Hans Raj College and obtained his master's degree in literature, both from the University of Delhi.[4] In November 1974, Dua made his first television appearance in Yuva Manch, a Hindi-language youth program which was aired on Doordarshan (formerly called Delhi television).[citation needed] Yuv Jan, a youth show for the youth of Raipur, Muzaffarpur, and Jaipur for Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), was anchored by Dua in 1975. The same year, he began anchoring Jawan Tarang, a program for youth which was telecast on the newly commissioned Amritsar TV.[citation needed] He continued his job until 1980.

In 1981, he started anchoring Aap Ke Liye, a Sunday morning family magazine, which he kept doing until 1984.[citation needed] Dua, along with Prannoy Roy, co-anchored the election analysis on Doordarshan in 1984.[citation needed] This gave his career a boost, as it bagged him the chance to anchor election analysis program for several other television channels. He also anchored Janvani (People's Voice), a show where common people had got the opportunity to directly question the ministers, in 1985. This show was first of its kind. Dua joined TV Today, a venture of India Today Group, as its chief producer in 1987.[citation needed]

To produce the shows based on current affairs, budget analysis, and documentary films, he launched his production company, The Communication Group, in 1988.[citation needed] Dua anchored the show Chakravyuha, the channel Zee TV, in 1992.[citation needed] Between 1992 and 1996, he was the producer of a weekly current affairs magazine, Parakh, which was telecast on Doordarshan.[5]

In 1996, he became the first electronic media journalist to be bestowed with the esteemed Ramnath Goenka Award for excellence in the field of journalism.[citation needed] Dua was an anchor for the show Tasveer-e-Hind, which was aired on Doordarshan's cerebral channel, DD3 Media. He served as an anchor for the channel between 1997 and 1998. In March 1998, Dua anchored the Sony Entertainment Channel's show, Chunav Chunauti. He was linked to the Sahara TV from the year 2000 to 2003, for which he used to anchor Pratidin.[6] Dua used to host the NDTV India's program, Zaika India Ka, for which he travelled across the cities; stopped by the highways, roads; tasted several dishes from the roadside dhabas. He also anchored Jan Gan Man Ki Baat for The Wire Hindi.[7]

Controversy

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In October 2017, Dua expressed his disapproval at actor Akshay Kumar for making sexist remarks against his daughter, Mallika Dua, during the shoot of an episode of the comedy show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.[8][9] Subsequently, in October 2018, film director Nishtha Jain accused Dua of persistent attempts of sexual harassment. Jain was shocked over Dua's stand on sexist remarks about his daughter even as he himself had 'sexually harassed her'.[10][11] However, Dua refuted the allegation and called it baseless and the figment of someone's imagination. He termed it as a sinister attempt by the right wing ecosystem to malign his image.[12][13][14][15]

A FIR was registered on 5 June 2020, by BJP spokesperson Naveen Kumar from Himachal Pradesh for allegedly "making statements conducing to public mischief". In his complaint to the Crime Branch, Kumar accused Dua of "spreading fake news" through "The Vinod Dua Show" on YouTube. Dua was also accused by Kumar of "misreporting" on the Delhi communal violence and stating that the "central government had done nothing to stop the violence".[16] However, Supreme Court quashed sedition and other charges that were registered against Vinod Dua by Naveen Kumar for making comments critical of Narendra Modi and the Central government.[17]

Death

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Dua and his wife contracted COVID-19 in early 2021 and he was hospitalised several times.[18] His wife died from the virus in June and his condition worsened for the rest of the year. He died after developing chronic liver disease as a post-COVID-19 complication on 4 December 2021, in New Delhi at the age of 67.[19][20]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". The Tribune (Chandigarh). Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ^ "The Wire's Vinod Dua Wins RedInk Lifetime Achievement Award". The Wire. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Journalist Vinod Dua Passed Away at 67, Daughter Mallika Dua Confirmed". SA News Channel. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Veteran journalist Vinod Dua dies at 67". PTI.
  5. ^ "Vinod Dua: Early life, Career and Achievements, Check out all about Vinod Dua!". The Tech Outlook. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  6. ^ "विनोद दुआ : आला ब्रॉडकास्टर".
  7. ^ दुआ, विनोद (7 September 2018). "जन गण मन की बात, एपिसोड 302: कृषि लोन की बंदरबांट और सवर्ण भारत बंद". The Wire - Hindi. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Mallika Dua's father lashes out at Akshay Kumar after the comedian was replaced; is this a publicity stunt?". PINKVILLA. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Vinod Dua calls Twinkle Khanna an "embarrassed wife" for defending Akshay Kumar for his sexist remark". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Veteran journalist Vinod Dua 'stalked', 'groped' filmmaker 30 years ago". punemirror.com. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  11. ^ "#Metoo: Mallika Dua's father Vinod Dua accused of sexual harassment, 'slobbered' the face of a filmmaker". DNA India. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  12. ^ "#MeToo movement: Filmmaker Nishtha Jain accuses Vinod Dua of sexual and mental harassment". The Times of India. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  13. ^ "#MeToo: Veteran Journalist Vinod Dua Accused Of Sexual Harassment". Outlook (Indian magazine).
  14. ^ "#MeToo movement: Filmmaker accuses TV personality Vinod Dua of harassment". The Indian Express.
  15. ^ "#MeToo: Vinod Dua accused of sexually harassing and stalking filmmaker in 1989". 14 October 2018.
  16. ^ Press Trust of India. "FIR registered against journalist Vinod Dua in Delhi". Outlook (Indian magazine). Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  17. ^ "SC Quashes Sedition Case Against Vinod Dua, Says Every Journalist Entitled to Protection".
  18. ^ "Vinod Dua passes away aged 67; daughter pens emotional message [details]". IBT News. 4 December 2021.
  19. ^ "Veteran journalist Vinod Dua dies at 67". Press Trust Of India.
  20. ^ "Veteran Journalist Vinod Dua Passes Away". The Wire (India). Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  21. ^ "Gulfnews: Talk time". Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  22. ^ "NDTV.com: Barkha Dutt, Vinod Dua get the Padma Shri". Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
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