Quoting noted philosopher Karl Marx, Principal Secretary of Culture Manoj Shrivastava said, “He had stated that ‘religion is the opium’ when there was no television or social media in the world.”
Had he been alive today, he would probably have called television and social media as ‘opium’ of today’s society, said Shrivastava. Today, people have got addicted to television and social media. Today, they spend almost same amount of time on these mediums as they spend in their works.
Shrivastava was addressing a two-day national symposium on ‘Value-based Communication and IT’ in Bhopal on Saturday. Shrivastava was present as the chief guest of the symposium which is being organised by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication. The symposium is being organised as a pre-dialogue for Simhastha-2016. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Brij Kishore Kuthiala was presiding over the inaugural session.
Shrivastava further said that social media has given freedom of expression to the people as a result of which every writer, poet and litterateur has got a platform to showcase his creation to the world and comments on public lives are not restricted to the four walls of the houses but they come to the fore. At the same time, he underlined that social media creates a delusion of intimacy and friendship. And this net is taking us away from our offline friends.
The Vice-Chancellor of the Journalism University while presiding over the symposium, said Kumbh fairs are not merely a religious gathering. It is neither organised with a view to washing out our sins by taking a dip in the holy rivers. He said that the event has a broader purpose to serve ie to take the stream of knowledge and wisdom to the common man in the society and to give a push to the development of the society on various fronts. At Kumbh, one looks for various answers of the questions arising within oneself. Keeping this tradition in mind, it has been decided to create an intellectual environment in the country through extensive consultations and symposiums before Simhastha to determine what should be the values for life.
Vice chancellor of Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism, Raipur, Sachchidanand Joshi said that values are of two types i.e. universal and individual. While the first one applies equally for one and all the second one varies from person to person and profession to profession. And everyone should perform their duties keeping both these values in mind if the universal peace and prosperity is to be achieved.