?The media is duty bound to maintain social integration. It should be careful and see to it that social tensions do not spill over as a result of their reporting. They should present the true picture like Sanjay did in the Mahabharata,? said Dr Suvarna Raval, Karyavahika, Samajik Samarasata Manch, Kokan Prant. She was speaking at the prize distribution ceremony of an essay competition for students of journalism and young journalists on the topic ?Social Integration and the Media? organised by the Mumbai centre of Hindusthan Samachar on the occasion of Shri Guruji Janmashatabdi celebration in Mumbai. Eminent media personality Pradeep Bhide was the chief guest.
She severely criticised those who dubbed Shri Guruji and the Sangh communal and castiest. Shri Guruji'sthoughts on social integration were very clear and ahead of everybody else. It was he who brought Hindu dharmacharyas and Shankaracharyas on one platform. It was the result of Shri Guruji'sefforts that at the Udipi sammelan in 1969 the dharmacharyas gave a call to the Hindu society to bury caste-based inequality and said that all Hindus were brothers and sisters and no Hindu can be a downtrodden. Lokmanya Tilak, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Raja Ram Mohan Roy were great journalists who always led the masses in the right direction. Journalists should try to follow in their footsteps. Their writing was rooted to social aspirations. They worked towards creating social harmony,? said Dr. Raval.
Dr. Suvarna Raval raised a question about the role of the media in bringing about and maintaining social harmony. She further said that the masses are like Dhritrashtra and hence the media should be like Sanjay and portray the true picture. But unfortunately a major section of the media does not play such a role today. The media should be careful enough not to disturb while reporting incidents.
Eminent media personality Pradeep Bhide said that the media should maintain pressure on the unscruplous politicians not to exploit caste divisions for their own selfish ends. He exhorted the media to desist from sensationalism while reporting, because it only aggravates the problems. He said that social integration is very necessary if we have to realise our dream of becoming a super power by 2020. Shri Pradeep Bhide also praised Hindusthan Samachar for organising an essay competition on the subject ?Social Integration and the Media? and making students of journalism and young journalists think on a subject of major importance.
A book by Dr. Kuleep Agnihotri on Shri Guruji'sthoughts on journalism and the Marathi translation of a biography of Shri Dadasaheb Apte were released during the programme. The Hindi biography has been written by Dr. Agnihotri and translated to Marathi by Smt. Sunita Paranjape, who has several books to her credit.
Shri Abasaheb Patwari presided over the programme. He congratulated the participants of the essay competition and wished them success in creating awareness in the society.
The awards were named after the late B. K. Kelkar, a renowned journalist of his time. (FOC)
