"Mulaquat" with Shri M S Bitta

The second meeting of the Indian Media Centre (IMC) initiative "Mulaquat", intended to provide an opportunity for journalists to interact with eminent public figures, was held on October 24, 2009 with Mr. Maninderjeet Singh Bitta, former Punjab Minister, former President of Indian Youth Congress and Chairman of the All India Anti-Terrorist Front. Mr. Bitta played a gracious host and welcomed the IMC members in the sprawling lawns of his 14, Talkatora Road residence.

The proceeding began with Mr. K G Suresh, General Secretary of the Delhi chapter of the IMC, expressing thanks to Mr. Bitta and elaborating upon the aims and objectives with which the organisation was formed. In his address, Mr. Suresh highlighted the tremendous work done by Mr. Bitta on the anti-terror front. He dwelt upon the various initiatives of the organisation in this regard and requested Mr. Bitta to grace the national convention if the IMC to be held in January, 2010. This was followed by a formal introduction of the IMC members present on the occasion.

Mr. Suresh then requested Mr. Bitta to address the gathering and express his views on the vexed issues facing the country, most importantly, the issue of terrorism which he has continued to fight fiercely, despite several attempts on his life. The gathering of media persons had and exhilarating experience as Mr. Bitta narrated several incidents and shared exciting observations about people and situations.

This was followed by an interactive session where Mr. Bitta fielded questions from the IMC members present on the occasion. The discussion concluded with the closing observation by Mr. Bitta, where he said that if right-minded people with positive approach reach the top-positions in the government, it is possible to bring about a realistic change in the country. He empasised that media has an extremely important role to play here and praised the various initiatives of Indian Media Centre intended to promote excellence in media. Mr. Bitta expressed his desire to work closely with Indian Media Centre in all its future initiatives.

This was followed by a vote of thanks by Mr. Dharamveer, treasurer of the Delhi chapter of IMC. A copy of Indian Media Centre publication ‘Media Critique’ was presented to Mr. Bitta by IMC general secretary Mr. K G Suresh. Mr. Joseph Garthia presented the honorary membership form to Bitta and a memento on behalf of the IMC was presented to Mr. Bitta by Mr. Sri Krishna.

-By Anubhav Srivastava