By Prashant Sood
New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, such as journalists, writers and artists, should not join any political party so that parliament is able to use their independent views on different matters, feels H.K. Dua, a newly-nominated member of the House of Elders.

“Essentially, the members should be independent. This enables them to bring their experience to the notice of MPs,” Dua, who took oath as Rajya Sabha member Nov 20, told IANS in an interview.

Dua, who is also the editor-in-chief of The Tribune, said he intended to live by the expectations of the founders of the Constitution, who had thought of the provision of nominated members in order to allow the parliament have access to the independent opinion of people from different walks of life such as writers, artists, scientists and men in public life.

“I am not joining any political party and will try to voice the feelings and views of people in the house,” said Dua, who has served as editor for over 15 years in four major national dailies.

Asked how he saw his new role as MP, Dua said he has always tried to be the “voice of people” as a journalist and would do the same in parliament.

Asked if the Congress-led UPA would expect the nominated members to vote in favour of the government as the ruling coalition lacks majority in the Rajya Sabha, Dua said they had laid no such conditions.

“To be fair, they have laid no conditions. People who are already there as nominated members and those who have been nominated now, I am sure, none of them is told to vote in a particular manner. If they are men of value, they will be independent in exercise,” he said, adding that most nominated members would support or oppose a policy on merit.

“That is how it ought to be. That is why they do not or should not join a political party.”

Besides speaking on foreign policy issues, particularly relations in the neighbourhood, Dua said he intended to focus in parliament on issues that threaten the plural character of Indian nationhood. “I believe that maintaining social harmony is very important for the country.”

The country has wasted too much time on questions of caste, language and religion and if it wanted to become a 21st century power it cannot waste energy and time wrestling with such problems, he said.

He said the media had a responsibility to serve society freely and fairly and it should not work for profit only.

“The present worry is that media is becoming a commercial entity where the element of service to society is getting diluted. I don’t think media should function just for profit. We have a responsibility to serve the society freely, fairly and in an unbiased manner,” he said.

If the media becomes a commercial entity, the wider purpose of service to people will not be served. “Media is not commerce,” he emphasised.

He felt that while the media had become more dynamic, “somewhere it was forgetting its basic purpose of existence because many organisations were considering it a revenue-generating exercise”.

“News and content should not be seen as products that can be marketed for profit. Hopefully, this current trend of taking the media ethos downhill will be reversed,” Dua said, adding he could see the “stirrings of thinking among many sensitive journalists” who were becoming conscious of the pitfalls towards which media was headed.

Proud of his over four-decade association with the media, Dua said he had enjoyed every moment of it and found his work as a journalist most fulfilling.

“I have enjoyed my role as political correspondent for the Indian Express and then chief editorship of the newspaper, editorship of Hindustan Times and Chief Editorship of the The Tribune. These are positions I have enjoyed the most,” he said.

Conferred the Padma Bhushan in 1998 for his distinguished service to journalism, Dua has served as media advisor to two prime ministers and an ambassador to Denmark. He has also been editorial advisor of The Times of India.

(Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in)