Darryl D’Monte: A journalist of people and environment

Darryl Dmonte

Very few journalists stood by peoples’rights and dared to expose atrocities committed by corporates and government. One such fine committed journalist was Darryl D’Monte who inspired younger generation. He passed away on March 16 in a Mumbai hospital.

Pioneering work

A prominent advocate of the advanced locality management (ALM) movement, which involved citizens in care of their neighborhoods, he was the president of Bandra West Residents Association. Also, he was a trustee of Mumbai Waterfronts Center, a member of Apna Mumbai Abhiyan , Chair of the Celebrate Bandra Trust , and a former convener of Celebrate Bandra festival. He also devoted himself to environmental issue networking environmental journalists in India and the world. He was chair of the Forum of Environmental Journalists in India and founder- president of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists. He was the editor of the Times of India’s Sunday Review and Mumbai resident editor for the Indian Express and The Times of India. After his retirement, he continued writing in many publications including The Hindu. His works include ‘Ripping the Fabric’ ,’The Decline of Mumbai and its Mills’ and ‘Temples or Tombs? Industry Versus Environment. His pioneering work as environmental journalist is valuable and relevant even today.

Motivator

‘Darryl was one of my gurus in journalism. But he was no intimidating figure. Warm and welcoming, he never let you feel that you were not an equal. To a rookie, that meant the world” (Courtesy: by Jyoti Punwani / Mumbai Mirror, kracktivist.org . He was an editor with space for issues which others avoided.

“Although Darryl worked for much of his life in mainstream media, he never gave up his convictions on environment, human rights, civic and urban issues,and the rights of the most marginalised.” (Darryl D’Monte, a passionate journalist who lived by his convictions, left a lasting legacy, written by Kalpana Sharma, updated March 19, 2019, indianexpress.com). He consciously mentored others. In the world of cut- throat competition, this stood then, and stands even now, as unusual trait.

Activist in peoples struggles

When Panthers Movement erupted in Mumbai, he brought out special edition on the movement literature and Dalit struggles in his Sunday Review section. He travelled to the remote parts of Jharkhand to meet tribal leader Shibu Soren and Marxist trade union leader A K Roy. He slept with Adivasis and learned about their struggles and wrote about tribal rights and oppression by the mining mafia. His balanced writings on riots of 1992-93 in Times of India made Shiv Sena call it ‘ Times of Pakistan.’ His thoughts on silent valley and dangers of environmental destruction are an indication of his concern towards nature.

Condolences

Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, who knew him well, said, ‘He was among India’s earliest environmental journalists and became one of the most eminent of them’. (Veteran Journalist Darryl D’Monte passes away, March 17 2019, m.rediff.com). “He and I disagreed at times but retained great fondness to each other”. His works had some influence on government policies.

D’ Monte will be remembered as a courageous journalist who was committed towards sustained ecological growth.

Sheshu Babu is a political commentator

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