Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Agradoot group of newspapers today via video conferencing. Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the chief patron of Agradoot’s Golden jubilee celebration committee, was also present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister congratulated the ‘strong voice of the Northeast in the Assamese language’ Dainik Agradoot for the occasion and complimented them for keeping the values of unity and harmony alive through the medium of journalism.
The Prime Minister remarked that under the guidance of Kanak Sen Deka, the Agradoot always kept the national interest paramount. Even during the Emergency, when the biggest attack on democracy took place, even then Agradoot daily and Deka ji did not compromise on journalistic values. He created a new generation of value-based journalism, he said.
The Prime Minister empathized that for the past few days, Assam is also facing great challenges and difficulties in the form of floods. Normal life has been greatly affected in many districts of Assam. The Chief Minister and his team are working very hard day and night for relief and rescue, he said. The Prime Minister assured the people of Assam, the readers of Agradoot, that the central and state governments are working together to reduce their difficulties.
The Prime Minister underlined the sterling contribution of Indian language journalism to Indian tradition, culture, freedom struggle and the development journey. Assam has played a key role in the development of language journalism in India as the state has been a very vibrant place from the point of view of journalism. Journalism started 150 years ago in the Assamese language and kept on getting stronger with time, he added.
The Prime Minister recalled that the journey of the Dainik Agradoot in the last 50 years narrates the story of the change that has taken place in Assam. People's movements have played an important role in realizing this change. People's movements protected the cultural heritage and Assamese pride of Assam. And now Assam is writing a new development story with the help of public participation.
The Prime Minister said when there is dialogue, there is a solution. It is through dialogue that possibilities expand. Therefore, along with the flow of knowledge in Indian democracy, the flow of information is also flowing continuously. Agradoot is part of that tradition, he said.
On the eve of 75 years of independence, the Prime Minister questioned limiting the intellectual space among a few people who know a particular language. He further said this question is not only of emotion but also of scientific logic. This may be seen as a reason for lagging behind in research on the three industrial revolutions. The Prime Minister said the expansion of Indian languages was stopped during the long period of slavery, and in modern epistemology, research was limited to a few languages. A large section of India had no access to those languages, to that knowledge. He added that the scope of Intellect's expertise kept shrinking. Due to this, the pool of invention and innovation has also become limited. In the 4th Industrial revolution, there is a massive opportunity for India to lead the world. This opportunity is due to our data power and digital inclusion. The Prime Minister stressed that “no Indian should be deprived of the best information, best knowledge, best skill and best opportunity just because of language, this is our effort. That's why we encouraged studies in Indian languages in the National Policy on Education.” The Prime Minister continued on the theme of knowledge in mother tongue and said that “ it is now our endeavour to make the world's best content available in Indian languages. For this, we are working on the national language translation mission. The effort is that the Internet, which is a huge storehouse of knowledge, and information, can be used by every Indian in his own language.” He also talked of the Bhashini Platform, a Unified Language Interface launched recently. “It is important from every aspect, social and economic, to make the Internet available to crores of Indians in their own language”, he added.
Underlining the biodiversity and cultural richness of Assam and Northeast, the Prime Minister said Assam has a rich legacy of music and that it needs to reach the world at large. He said efforts of the last 8 years with regard to physical and digital connectivity of the region will be hugely beneficial for the tribal tradition, tourism and culture of Assam.
The Prime Minister said the positive role played by our media in campaigns like the Swachh Bharat Mission is appreciated all over the country and the world even today. “Similarly, you can become a participant in the country's resolutions in the Amrit Mahotsav”, the Prime Minister said.
“Well-informed, better-informed society should be the goal for all of us, let us all work together for this”, the Prime Minister concluded.
डेका जी के मार्गदर्शन में दैनिक अग्रदूत ने सदैव राष्ट्रहित को सर्वोपरि रखा।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
इमरजेंसी के दौरान भी जब लोकतंत्र पर सबसे बड़ा हमला हुआ, तब भी दैनिक अग्रदूत और डेका जी ने पत्रकारीय मूल्यों से समझौता नहीं किया: PM @narendramodi
मेरी भी समय-समय पर इसको लेकर बातचीत होती रहती है।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
मैं आज असम के लोगों को, अग्रदूत के पाठकों को ये भरोसा दिलाता हूं केंद्र और राज्य सरकार मिलकर, उनकी मुश्किलें कम करने में जुटी हैं: PM @narendramodi
बीते कुछ दिनों से असम बाढ़ के रूप में बड़ी चुनौती और कठिनाइयों का सामना भी कर रहा है।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
असम के अनेक जिलों में सामान्य जीवन बहुत अधिक प्रभावित हुआ है।
हिमंता जी और उनकी टीम राहत और बचाव के लिए दिनरात बहुत मेहनत कर रही है: PM @narendramodi
दैनिक अग्रदूत के पिछले 50 वर्षों की यात्रा असम में हुए बदलाव की कहानी सुनाती है।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
जन आंदोलनों ने इस बदलाव को साकार करने में अहम भूमिका निभाई है।
जन आंदोलनों ने असम की सांस्कृतिक विरासत और असमिया गौरव की रक्षा की।
और अब जन भागीदारी की बदौलत असम विकास की नई गाथा लिख रहा है: PM
जब संवाद होता है, तब समाधान निकलता है।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
संवाद से ही संभावनाओं का विस्तार होता है।
इसलिए भारतीय लोकतंत्र में ज्ञान के प्रवाह के साथ ही सूचना का प्रवाह भी अविरल बहा और निरंतर बह रहा है: PM @narendramodi
आज़ादी के 75 वर्ष जब हम पूरा कर रहे हैं, तब एक प्रश्न हमें ज़रूर पूछना चाहिए।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
Intellectual space किसी विशेष भाषा को जानने वाले कुछ लोगों तक ही सीमित क्यों रहना चाहिए?
ये सवाल सिर्फ इमोशन का नहीं है, बल्कि scientific logic का भी है: PM
यानि Intellect का, expertise का दायरा निरंतर सिकुड़ता गया।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
जिससे invention और innovation का pool भी limited हो गया: PM @narendramodi
गुलामी के लंबे कालखंड में भारतीय भाषाओं के विस्तार को रोका गया, और आधुनिक ज्ञान-विज्ञान, रिसर्च को इक्का-दुक्का भाषाओं तक सीमित कर दिया गया।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
भारत के बहुत बड़े वर्ग की उन भाषाओं तक, उस ज्ञान तक access ही नहीं था: PM @narendramodi
कोई भी भारतीय best information, best knowledge, best skill और , best opportunity से सिर्फ भाषा के कारण वंचित ना रहे, ये हमारा प्रयास है।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
इसलिए हमने राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति में भारतीय भाषाओं में पढ़ाई को प्रोत्साहन दिया: PM @narendramodi
स्वच्छ भारत मिशन जैसे अभियान में हमारे मीडिया ने जो सकारात्मक भूमिका निभाई है, उसकी पूरे देश और दुनिया में आज भी सराहना होती है।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2022
इसी तरह, अमृत महोत्सव में देश के संकल्पों में भी आप भागीदार बन सकते हैं: PM @narendramodi
