Dhar: 'Quest for self-reliance doesn't mean isolation from world'

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): The third and concluding day of the literary festival ‘Narmada Sahitya Manthan also observed as ‘Bhojparv’ concluded in Dhar on Tuesday. 

In the first session, Dr Balmukund Pandey, eminent litterateur, delivered an address based on ‘Literary contribution of Raja Bhoj’. He said that Raja Bhoj is regarded as a scholar king of the Malwa region. He wrote many books based on arts, literature, and sciences and covered various topics including poetry, philosophy, medicine, yoga, veterinary science, archery and phonetics.

During the second session, eminent thinker Bhagwati Prakash threw light on ‘Economic Discussion – Self-reliant India”. Prakash said that India has been an economically prosperous country for ages. India's quest for self-reliance does not mean isolation. Rather it seeks to promote Indian goods in the global supply chain markets.

The third session was addressed by Mohan Narayan on ‘social harmony’. He elaborated the contributions of Sant Raidas, JyotibaPhule, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Shaheed Bhagat Singh in establishing social harmony in the country without which our freedom struggle would have remained meaningless.  

Vikas Dave, director, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Academy, Bhopal, addressed the fourth session on ‘cultural contribution of folk literature’. He said folk literature has played a significant role in shaping the culture of India. He urged the government to take steps to preserve and propagate oral traditions and folklore.

Narendra Thakur, co-publicity chief, RSS, while addressing the concluding session said that Sahitya Manthan aims to facilitate the coming generation with authentic and factual information about our glorious history, culture and traditions. He added that we cannot rebuild India until we come out of the foreign/Western mindset.

Eminent litterateurs, writers, constitutional experts, historians and journalists participated in the three-day-long event and also shared ideas on various topics during the sessions.