New Delhi: “The faces associated with Organiser and Panchjanya might have changed during the journey of seven decades, but both the nationalist weeklies have only echoed the voice of Bharat,” said RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Dr Manmohan Vaidya while releasing the special issues of both the weeklies dedicated to the legacy of 70 years on January 22. Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Textile Smt Smriti Irani, Managing Director of Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Ltd and RSS Delhi Prant Sah Sanghachalak Shri Alok Kumar, Group Editor of Organiser and Panchjanya Shri Jagdish Upasane, Organiser editor Shri Prafulla Ketkar and Panchjanya editor Shri Hitesh Shankar also shared the dais.
The function organised at the Nehru Memorial Auditorium, Teen Murti, witnessed many high profile dignitaries from media, academics and the literary world. Former editor of Panchjanya Shri Mahendra Kulshreshtha, former employees of Organiser Shri Rup Lal Rohmetra and former editor of Organiser Dr R Balashankar were felicitated by Smt Smriti Irani, Dr Manmohan Vaidya and others on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Manmohan Vaidya stressed that Organiser and Panchjanya have worked tirelessly to support the voice of Bharatiya identity. “The journey of both the papers has not been easy. There was acute shortage of resources and excess of suppression by the ruling dispensation. But the commitment of employees and the strength of ideology kept this journey moving on,” he said. He said two pictures of Indian society are seen today. One is centred in the West, which is basically the non-Indian concept, while the second root is in Bharat. The clash in both these concepts is also visible today. The centre of the alien concept is Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), while the centre of second concept is Banaras Hindu University (BHU). The tragedy is that Bharat till today was negating the ‘Bharat’ itself. But now those talking about Bharat are stronger. That is why the respect for India has increased world over. The spirituality based culture of Bharat is capable to unite whole Bharat. Both, Organiser and Panchjanya, have followed the same vision and continued to hold the tradition of the Indian spirituality.
Smt Smriti Irani said who could have thought 70 years ago that one day any function of Organiser and Panchjanya would be organised at Nehru Memorial Auditorium. But today the time has changed. The sharpness in the pen still prevails even after so many onslaughts and allurements. She appreciated the Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Ltd for felicitating its old employees, which shows that the company recognises the contribution of its old associates. It is the greatness of the Indian thought. She further said that some people in the country feel that they are the only representatives of freedom of speech and expression. They continued to have prejudice towards both Organiser and Panchjanya, whereas both these papers have always respectfully provided space to the opponents. She appreciated the spirit that in the age when a big section of the media runs after money collected through advertisements both, Organiser and Panchjanya, have restricted themselves to publish advertisements of a certain category. This shows their commitment to the nation and patriotism. She suggested to have stronger digital presence among the young generation and also start editions in different Indian languages.
Shri Prafulla Ketkar termed the event as celebration of not only seven decades’ journey, but also celebration of the support received from the committed readers, supporters and the writers. “The journey of Organiser and the country’s Independence are inseparable. Just few days after enactment of the Constitution of India, Organiser was banned for exposing the plight of the Hindus in Pakistan. Shri KR Malkani had then told the Government in clear terms that it has to differentiate between the allegation against the Government and the allegation against the State. Since 1964, any newspaper which continues to expose the red terror in Kannur, it is Organiser. It was Organiser which for the first time basically used the term ‘pseudo-secularism’ during 1950,” he added.
Shri Hitesh Shankar said the picture of 70 years is so gigantic that any canvas and brush is insufficient to paint that. In the beginning, Shri Alok Kumar recalled the days when Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya himself pulled the printing press and Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee finished his editorial even when he was unwell. Shri Jagdish Upasane proposed a vote of thanks. — Pramod Kumar
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