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Members of the Sibsagar Press Club and Nagaland Press Club after the programme at Sibsagar in Assam on April 7. (EM Images)[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Sibsagar (Assam), April 8 (EMN): If journalists from the Northeast region can work together they can be pivotal in helping people shed the region's negative image. This was the core message of a recent interaction between media persons from Assam and of Nagaland.
Members of the Sibsagar Press Club (SPC), on April 7 observed their 25th anniversary at the Yuvadol auditorium with a host of journalists from Sibsagar, in Assam, and members of the Nagaland Press Association (NPA). Journalists from Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung districts in Nagaland were at the event.
The SPA was formed in the year 1993 and is said to be one of the most active press groups working toward strengthening democratic ethos in Assam.
The NPA's president K Temjen Jamir, editor of a vernacular newspaper Tir Yimyim, was the special guest for the occasion. Jamir said it was a 'great achievement' for the club and a generation who are survivors of the 'gun culture' and socio political turmoil. He insisted that the entire media fraternity of the Northeast region to work together for a common cause. ‘The Northeast region needs peace, development and growth for the people to prosper.’
“The media personnel in the north-eastern states can help in shedding the negative image of the region and project it as a destination of people who have historical and traditional rights which needs to be protected and preserved,” he asserted.
Further, he said Assam has a large number of media personnel who have been contributing a lot to the uplift of the society and building public opinion. He pointed out that the press as the fourth estate in a democratic set-up has the bounden duty to discharge their duties in building the society and nation.
However, Jamir cautioned ‘any misinformation from our part many only ruin the lives of many, but also will prove detrimental to the society.’ He opined that press clubs should be used as platforms through which journalists can share opinions and plan and pursue future goals in life and work. It should be utilized for good and in building the nation and not otherwise, he said.
Referring to the relations between Assam and Nagaland, Jamir said that the bond between the Assamese and the Naga people has been on for generations and centuries and they will always be neighbours.
Although there may be differences over certain issues politically, Jamir said that the media from both the states can play important roles to resolve issues be it political, social, be it geographical. They can do so by helping to build positive public opinion and consensus.
The speaker called for building strong relations between the media personnel of both Assam and Nagaland. Such a relation would be pivotal in resolving issues between the two states, he said.
The president of the SPC Dr. Mahanta welcomed the journalists and appreciated the Nagaland press fraternity for joining the celebration.
