SHILLONG: India has witnessed an alarming amalgamation of politics and religion that has only propagated hatred and at this juncture, the media play an important role in reforming the society, said former Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary on Thursday.
Speaking at Media Excellence Award function organised by the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) in Guwahati, Mooshahary said, “A country has not progressed or it is not likely to progress when ‘religion’ and ‘politics’ become the topic of discussion day in and day out.”
Pointing out that the happiest countries are those who are able to keep religion and politics aside, Mooshahary said “in our country religion and politics are mixed to such an extent that it has brought hatred instead of love”.
He asserted that the media has a vital role in reforming the society, but added that social media is becoming destructive and the trend has to change.
Manas Chaudhuri, former education minister and managing director of The Shillong Times, said universities have immense responsibility in shaping the future of a generation through community engagement, public service and knowledge exchange apart from its main areas of teaching and research.
Later, Mooshahary conferred the awards to media personalities from the region.
This year’s USTM Media Excellence Award went to four media stalwarts of the region — Zarir Hussain, Chief Managing Editor, News Live Television; Dileep Chandan, Editor, Asom Bani; Samudra Gupta Kashyap, veteran journalist and author; and Maini Mahanta, Editor, Nandini.
The USTM Media Achiever Award-2018 went to eight senior journalists from the region — Sujit Chakraborty, special correspondent, IANS, Tripura; Satyanarayan Misra, staff reporter, Dainik Purvoday; Imtiaz Ahmed, senior reporter, The Telegraph, Guwahati; Monmoromi Mahanta, journalist, Prag Channel; Mridul Haloi, sub-editor, Dainik Janambhumi; Aafaque Hussain, reporter, The Shillong Times; Tinakali Sumi, senior sub-editor, Nagaland Post, and Evanjoplin Dkhar, senior reporter, The Meghalaya Guardian. USTM Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque stated that it has been a challenging journey for the institute that started with six students in 2011 and now takes pride to have more than 5,000 students.
The programme was part of the USTM PR Day to honour media personalities.
