Bengaluru. RSS Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale Ji said, this event is a family event where all the members of the Vikrama family have come together to celebrate. Most of us here have engaged with Vikrama in one way or the other over the years. People like Ramanand Achar have dedicated their entire lives to the magazine. Vikrama has always endeavoured to stand by the nationalistic cause and lofty principles for which it was established.
He addressed the Amrutha Sambrama programme organised on behalf of 75 years of Vikrama Kannada Weekly at RV Teachers College, Jayanagara, Bengaluru on 1st December 2023.
Dattatreya Hosabale Ji said, “Vikrama has continued to thrive despite emergency, political opposition, financial tough situations it faced several times. If a man has commitment and determination, he can learn anything. An example of this is those associated with Vikrama since its inception because those who started the magazine and ran it were not editors or journalists. But they dedicated themselves to the cause and also nurtured others. BSN Mallya was a bank manager but took up the responsibility of the magazine and ran it successfully as its editor. Many scholars like Shivaram Karanth have contributed to Vikrama selflessly”.
“A lion becomes the king of the forest without anyone anointing it. Similarly, Vikrama has charted its own path and left an indelible mark on the journalistic history of Karnataka. It has taken up every nationalistic cause be it gau sanrakshan, article 370, Ram Janmabhoomi, punjab terrorism and many more. But it has never once indulged in smear campaign against anyone or politically motivated stories” he added.
He said, “One person who is inseparable from Vikrama is BSN Mallya. BSN Mallya identified and groomed many youngsters in writing, journalism and circulation. He had good rapport with politicians and leaders of all dispensations and didn’t not shy away from integrating with any ideologies. When I was imprisoned along the Mallya under MESA during emergency, I saw that Mallya did not stop studying, learning and writing”.
“In this era of social media, the nature of news and its consumption has changed. Newspapers and magazine are facing challenges but are surviving. There is an increase in the number of readers. Magazines have to improvise without forsaking the lofty principles of journalism and must stand for truth and earnest delivery of news” Hosabale Ji said.
Sarkaryavah Ji added, “The country is in the cusp of altering the narrative which was prevalent for many decades. This narrative showed our civilizational values, history and traditions in a negative light and spread false and untrue canards. Despite such prevalent narratives, there were voices like SR Goel, Ram Swarup who raised their voices against such a narrative. But such voices were depicted as fringe and not considered mainstream. Today we are in a position where nationalistic narrative is taking the mainstream. Magazines have a huge role to play in this narrative war. Vikrama has to adopt to new ways of media and journalism and continue on its nationalistic path and be a major part of this war of the narratives. I wish that Vikrama competes 100 years and bring more hearts and minds to the nationalistic cause. I wish the entire family of Vikrama the best in their endeavours”.
Adichunchanagiri Seer Pujya Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji, RSS Dakshin Madhya Kshetra Sanghchalak V Nagaraj, Vikrama Kannada Weekly Editor Ramesha Doddapura were present on the dias.
Also, Commemorative issue of Vikrama was released and many people who were closely associated with Vikrama Kannada Weekly since decades and former editors of Vikrama were felicitated in the programme.
