NEW DELHI: Remembering doyen of Indian media Ramnath Goenka as “great independent thinker”, Pujya Swami Swaroopanandaji, the Global Head of Chinmaya Mission, on Friday said that responsible journalists have to be “daring and courageous” and should write “fact” without “prejudice” to convey “truth”.
Delivering his speech here as the chief guest at the second edition of Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman ceremony, an award that celebrates the magic of words, and honours authors for their literary excellence, Swaroopanandaji said that writers “are those who protect and spread the knowledge to the world."
Reminding people about the timeless impact of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata on the lives of people, Swaroopanandaji talked about the character Sanjay, who narrated the unfolding events in Kurukshetra, where Pandavas and Kauravas were fighting a war. “Sanjay of Mahabharata reported in words about the unfolding incidents of the war to his blind king without any prejudice and with a lot of clarity. The blind King could recognise the words and make his own views.”
The spiritual leader of Chinmaya Mission cautioned that when fact and truth are muddled off and falsehood is spread as fact, the situation is very harmful to the society. “Responsible journalism should be courageous, fearless and independent. The wellbeing of society should be the core of responsible journalism,” he insisted.
Noting that he did not find any difference among the writing forms – fiction, non-fiction or journalistic reporting -, he said, “In either of the form if a writer is able to bring out better self of people, who could think independently and arrive at conclusion on their own, the work should be considered a great success.”
Talking about the difference between fact and truth, Swaroopanandaji said, “When the fact is told, it should be without prejudice and thus the fact becomes the truth.” He went on to add: “Authors of books should also lead us with their writings to allow us to live in unity and harmony and such writings benefit the society forever.”
Talking about literary works in Indian languages, Swaroopanandaji said, there are amazing books available and these works should get global recognition, as the knowledge system has evolved through centuries.
Putting forth an analogy between soldiers and writers, Swaroopanandaji said, “Soldiers do not die in a war, but just fade away. Similarly, writers never die; they just go out of print.” Further justifying his thought he said, several works of great writers have “timelessly guided us in finding ourselves” and commensurate successes.