Vijay Vineet : Established a landmark for courageous journalis

 

Vijay Vineet reported about the terrorism in the terai (foothills) region of Uttar Pradesh and the communal riots, when none could even muster the courage for such candid reporting. He not only accorded an ethical voice to journalism, but put his life at stake at more than one occasions for the amelioration of the suppressed classes.

 

 

Ramji Prasad ‘Bhairav’

(Senior litterateur and writer)

 

घर में ठंडे चूल्हे पर अगर खाली पतीली है।

 बताओ कैसे लिख दूं धूप फाल्गुन की नशीली है।।

 

The writing of upright Varanasi based journalist Vijay Vineet is as sharp as the verse penned by noted poet Adam Gondvi. His demeanour neither tolerates the intimidation of officers nor the bullying by politicians. Whether it is about the eating of grass by Varanasi’s Mushhar community or the serving of roti with salt in Mirzapur, he has never bowed down before the high handedness of the bureaucracy…never gave up…never surrendered. He has always encouraged good work and gave a befitting reply to the crook and the corrupt. He has been unfazed whether they were toughies, liquor mafia or country’s big scamsters. He is considered among the finest and forthright journalists in North India.

 

 

Vijay Vineet reported about the terrorism in the terai (foothills) region of Uttar Pradesh and the communal riots, when none could even muster the courage for such candid reporting. He not only accorded an ethical voice to journalism, but put his life at stake at more than one occasions for the amelioration of the suppressed classes. He never conceded defeat, gave up or was demoralised. He has successfully fulfilled his social obligations not only as a professional, but as a responsible citizen and a patriot. Notwithstanding the government of the day, he has never acted as their spokesperson or Man Friday.

 

  

A vastly combative, audacious and stereotypical Varanasi journalist, Vijay has always abided by the journalism’s basic principles of neutrality and sincerity towards readers. His writings exhibit the life’s unfettered truth and struggles. Vijay Vineet has a distinct penchant for narrating the helplessness angst of the country’s farmers and common man. Mindless of the government, he has never condoned the pain and sufferings of the slum dwellers. He has always been at the forefront of trying to recoup the shattered lives of the people living in the rural areas or injecting the dose of nationalism and socialism in the corrupt.

 

  

Vijay Vineet has always believed that journalists are not the news themselves, but the society always expects truthfulness from them. Nothing is more precious, not even his own life, for a journalist than news. He had sustained grievous head injuries in the riots at the Onkaleshwar temple campus in Varanasi in 2002. He got several stitches in the head, yet he reported with the same vigour.

 

  

Even in the face of rising deceit, trickery and political scheming in the society, Vijay Vineet never compromised with anyone. There were instances one too many when he stood against falsehood and hypocrisy with full might and vigour. He never let the news related to the most deprived sections of society, whether it was the issue of starvation in the MCC naxalite’s hub of Naugarh or the helplessness of starved women and children feeding on wood pices in Chandauli. He sought to provide power to the society’s vulnerable sections with his inspiring writing for their amelioration. The credit goes to Vijay Vineet that the villages of Naugarh are witnessing greenery and not deprivation. The songs being sung are not of despair but prosperity. The motorcycles have replaced bicycles, while the children and elderly, who were earlier dressed in tatters, wear new clothes. One can visit Kubradih to have a glimpse of this new reality. It is the same village where three persons had died of hunger. Vijay Vineet’s news report had caused a commotion in the Parliament. Not only Purvanchal, but entire Uttar Pradesh and the terai (foothill) region of Uttarakhand, but Vijay Vineet has proved to be a major influencer for the socioeconomic development of all such areas, which had not seen paved pathways, roofs without lintel, feet without leather footwear, hands without the watch and eyes which always longed for the spectacles.

 

 

 

Vijay Vineet has earned a distinct identity for himself in the league of prominent journalists of Delhi and Lucknow, which is still acknowledged in the entire North India. Vijay Vineet’s investigative report published on July 12, 1991 facilitated justice after 25 years to the families of 11 innocent citizens, who were killed in fake encounter by the Pilibhit Police alleging them to be extremists. The deceased were all returning from Sikh pilgrimage. On March 29, 2016, special CBI judge Lallu Singh had awarded life imprisonment to 47 guilty policemen. The incident pertained to the period, when Sikh extremism was at its peak in the terai region. Vijay Vineet wrote countless riveting news reports.

 

 

 

Nearly 95 people were killed in a powerful bomb explosion in Udham Singh Nagar on October 16, 1991, while scores of others were also wounded. The police could arrest the guilty terrorists only after Vijay Vineet’s investigative piece in Dainik Jagran.

 

  

Terai’s other major incident had occurred on August 3, 1992, in which the terrorists had kidnapped 29 villagers. Narrating the incident, Vineet said, “In those days, dreaded terrorist Sukhdev used to run a parallel government from the forests of Gadha range in Pilibhit and his writ ran large. When the police could not locate the villagers, Vijay Vineet along with his aides went on for their search. He was fearless to enter such a place, where even the police dreaded to venture owing to the threat of terrorists, one which was inhabited by snakes and other wild animals. In the pursuit of the kidnapped victims, Vijay Vineet spent a terrifying night in the jungles of the Garha range. When he could not tolerate the hunger, he munched the leaves and quenched his thirst with the rainwater collected in ditches. He left the place only after spotting the victims’ bodies, and later informed the police.

 

  

Vijay Vineet said the two incidents instilled the strength in him to stand up to the life’s tough challenges. He has bequeathed the strength, the confidence, the knack fearlessly writing about the life’s tough aspects from his mentor, senior journalist Mr Bachchan Singh.

 

  

Vijay Vineet is India’s first journalist, who, through his writings, took the Hindi readers on a voyage to the US for 40 days. He served the USA’s culture and traditions in a typical Banarasi flavour. He wrote continuously through his US visit. Owing to the fame that he had earned, the students of Colombia Journalism School, Broadway, New York arrived in Varanasi on August 20, 2017 to learn the skills of fearless journalism. He shared his experiences with the entire US audience.

 

 

 

Vijay Vineet is not only writer, but a journalist activist too. He has waged a long campaign to wash off the stigma on Karmanasha river in his home district of Chandauli. He has even produced several documentaries as well and continues to write unabated. He is making efforts to uplift the horticulturists and farmers of Varanasi. Vijay Vineet is deeply involved in reviving the various horticulture crops of Purvanchal, which are on the verge of extinction, such as lemon, jackfruit, mango, sweet lime, sandalwood etc of Varanasi region. Along with his farmer friend Shailendra Singh Raghuvanshi, he has set up an orchard nursery in Cholapur of Varanasi to revive these horticultural varieties. The nursery prepares these varieties in the greenhouse.

 

 

 

For his valuable contribution in the field of fearless journalism, protection of the minorities’ interests and contribution towards curbing the human rights breach, Vijay Vineet has been feted with several awards. This includes the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) and Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) Janmitra award as well.

 

  

On December 10, 2013, he was honoured at the Constitution Club at Rafi Marg, New Delhi. On February 2, 2018, he was given the Saraswat Award by the journalism department of teh Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth.

   

For sterling reporting on Sikh extremism, he was given the Sahitya Kala Academy’s best journalism award in October 1991. He has also received countless other awards viz. Tilak Award by the Integrated Society of Media, Sushil Tripathi Journalism Award by the Kashi Journalism Federation etc. Interestingly, he has so far not received any state/government award.

 

  

Born in a family of agriculturists on March 29, 1965 at Utraut village in Chakia, Chandauli district, Vijay Vineet’s father Ranvir Singh was a teacher and a doctor by profession. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps, but Vijay Vineet chose the tough life of a journalist. He had a long career as a fearless journalist with the country’s top newspapers like Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala and Hindustan. At present, he is giving his inspirational leadership to the editorial team of Jansandesh Times’ Varanasi edition. His YouTube channel ‘Jhumritelaiya’ and website ‘Jhumritelaiya.com’ are quite famous now. Vijay Vineet is not only an experimental editor, good writer and reporter, but a fine video editor as well.

 

 

 

 

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