5 min readMar 4, 2026 07:21 PM IST
First published on: Mar 4, 2026 at 07:21 PM IST
Unlike most of his contemporaries, as editor of mainline major English newspapers, Hari Krishan Dua worked his way up the newspaper hierarchy in a slow and steady fashion. But his conscientious, diligent approach, integrity and sharp political insight, were eventually rewarded. He earned for himself a unique place in Indian journalism.
Dua had the distinction of holding more top-level editorial posts in Indian journalism than any other scribe. He was editorial head of The Indian Express (1994-1996), the Hindustan Times (1987-1994), The Tribune (2003-2009) and The Times of India (1997-98). Because of the respect and trust in which he was held, he was appointed media adviser to two prime ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and HD Deve Gowda. His illustrious career included a nomination to the Rajya Sabha in the distinguished persons category between 2009 and 2015. He was appointed ambassador to Denmark and awarded the Padma Bhushan, among numerous other laurels.
Unlike many ivory tower editors of his day, Dua stood out for being mild-mannered and accessible, a hands-on veteran of news reporting who empathised with the problems of the journalists working for him. Dua began his career as a cub reporter in the UNI news agency when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. From UNI he moved to The Indian Express as a special correspondent and eventually headed its political bureau for several years. During his long career in media, and later in government, he developed abiding friendships with many politicians, who respected his honesty and independence. The trust he enjoyed won him several exclusives.
He once recounted to me jokingly how as a foreign correspondent he had an advantage that he drank very little, nursing just one drink throughout the evening. So while his competitors were often in their cups at official parties, he was still searching for leads and successfully scooped other correspondents on late developing breaks on the Ministry of External Affairs beat.
Dua sahib, as I always respectfully addressed him, was my boss twice. First as bureau chief of The Indian Express, when I first joined the newspaper’s bureau, and once again when he was editor-in-chief of the Express and I was the Delhi resident editor. We had our differences, as is inevitable in the news business, but neither of us held grudges or allowed our long-standing friendship to be soured by different temperaments and viewpoints.
When I joined the Express bureau, he instructed me to sit down and read all the tomes of Question Hour papers from the Rajya Sabha delivered by the peons to the bureau office every evening. It was a conscientious, if very time consuming, duty, which he had once himself undertaken. I felt my time could be better utilised and it became a standing joke among my colleagues in the bureau that I hadn’t finished my homework for the day.
When he hired me as editor, he insisted I give up my weekly Inside Track column and focus instead on edit page writing and marking the grammatical mistakes in the newspaper, the second duty I felt was not my core area of competence. At the same time, he generously gave me leeway to decide the front page stories, a task I relished. Once we differed sharply over putting on the front page a news story of religious hysteria gripping Delhi with crowds swarming to visit temples that day claiming that the deities were shedding tears. He disapproved of encouraging superstition, but he was large-hearted enough to eventually change his mind and agree that such a human interest story needed to be played up on the newspaper’s front page.
Dua’s integrity was unimpeachable and when a newspaper owner allegedly asked him to use his political contacts to bail him out over some foreign exchange cases filed against him he refused to oblige and lost his job. He took up the issue with the Press Council of India.
The last years of Dua’s life were challenging because of a serious stroke. Yet, despite his handicap, Dua demonstrated his courage and willpower by continuing to visit his favourite haunt, the India International Centre, in a wheelchair and interact with friends despite his halting speech. He never lost his cheerfulness and equanimity despite his illness.
Last October we met at the IIC for lunch for the last time and he insisted on clearing up any misunderstandings we might have had over the years. I laughed and assured him that from my side there was only an abiding affection. Like others in the newspaper world, I mourn deeply the passing away of one of our own. A newsman with printer’s ink in his blood.
The writer is Contributing Editor, The Indian Express
