Sadhna, the noted Gujarati weekly, has turned 50. Started in 1956 with the blessings of Shri Guruji, the second Sarsanghachalak of RSS, today it has 24,000 dedicated subscribers and lakhs of readers in 225 tehsils and 6,000 villages of Gujarat and other parts of the country. To celebrate its golden jubilee year, Sadhna organised a two-day national convention of senior journalists and editors of nationalist newspapers and magazines in Ahmedabad on August 24. Prominent journalists and editors, who participated in the convention, included Shri D.G. Lakshman, editor of Hosdiganta (Bangalore), Shri Lakshmishankar Katakukke, editor of Vikram, Shri Jaikrishan Gaur, editor of Swadesh (Indore), Shri Rajendra Sharma, editor of Swadesh (Bhopal), Shri Anand Mishra ?Abhay?, editor of Rashtradharma (Lucknow) and assistant editor Shri Vijay Kumar, Shri Krishan Kumar Asthana, chief editor of Devputra, and editor Shri Vikas Dave, Shri Jagdish Prasad, editor of Brij Samvad (Agra), Shri Sadgopal, editor of Vijaybhartam (Tamil Nadu), Shri Narayan Sewayar, editor of Veervani (Karnataka), Dr Vijay Sarathi, editor of Jagriti (Andhra Pradesh), Shri Jagbandhu Mishra, editor of Rashtradeep, Shri S.B. Patwari, executive editor of Vivek and chief editor Shri Makarand Mule, Shri Gopal Sharma, editor of Mahanagar Times, Shri Vidyadhar Thate, editor of Ekata and editors of all Vishwa Samvad Kendras.
Inaugurating the convention at Vishwa Bharati Auditorium near Gandhinagar, Sarkaryavah Shri Mohan Bhagwat said the word ?national? signifies not only the whole country but it also symbolises the nationalist persons. He said there are a number of nationalist journalists in the country who never compromised with the national interest. Talking about the present challenges facing the country, he said four kinds of fascist forces dominate today?Islamic fundamentalism, aggressive Christian missionaries, economic and secular intellectual fascism. He stated that the leftist secularists in the intellectual field are so strong that they started vote-bank politics on Vande Mataram also, which binds the motherland in one thread. Speaking at the concluding session, Shri Bhagwat said the Sangh influence in the media is growing regularly as new dedicated people are joining the field. ?Our victory is certain as we are following the path of dharma,? he said.
Shri Suresh Soni, Sahsarkaryavah, said strategies should be chalked out to counter the challenges, rather than holding discussions on them. He further said a tendency appears to be spreading all over the country to ridicule everything connected with Hindutva. He called on the Hindutva workers to be active in every field of the society to counter the campaigns by leftists and secularists.
Shri Vidyutbhai Thakkar, a noted Gujarati writer, said publishing a magazine continuously for 50 years is in itself a sadhna and in the case of Sadhna it could be possible because it is moving with an ideal. Giving details of the convention, Shri Mukesh Shah, editor of Sadhna, said Sadhna did not change its path despite various hurdles it faced during the last 50 years. He remarked that since the time is changing rapidly the responsibilities of journalism are also changing. He remarked that Sadhna has always fulfilled its social responsibility.
In the second session, Shri Kalpesh Patel of Rajkamal Printing Press, and a software engineer Shri Apoorva Ashar apprised the participants of the new printing technologies. In the last session on August 25, veteran Sangh Pracharak Shrikant Joshi discussed the preparations by the magazines and newspapers during the birth-centenary year of Shri Guruji.
Prof M.C. Varshneya, Vice-Chancellor of Anand Agriculture University, spoke about the geography of the country and also people'sfaith to it. Noted columnist Smt Sandhya Jain cautioned mediapersons against the dangers of foreign investment in media. She said even the Hindi newspapers published from Delhi appear influenced by the people of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Citing the example of excavations in Ayodhya, when the clinching evidences proving a temple there were found, she said the media did not provide the correct information and truth to the readers. She asked why the Human Rights Commission, which made hue and cry over the human rights violations in Gujarat, forgets the pain and sufferings of the Hindus of Jammu and Kashmir, who have to become refugee in their own country.
Shri Amritbhai Kariwala, Kshetra Sanghachalak, Shri Pravinbhai Otiya, Prant Pracharak and other Sangh adhikris, Shri Amitbhai Shah, Minister for Home in the state government, Shri Bhupendra Singh Chudasama, Minister for Agriculture, Shri Bharat Barot, Minister for Rural Development, Shri I.K. Jadeja, Minister for Urban Development, Shri Vajubhaiwala, state BJP president, Shri Keshubhai Patel, former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vishnu Pandya, former editor of Sadhna and Shri Saurabh Shah, editor of Vichardhara, also attended the convention.
