Open discussion is a mark of social development and views of every person should be respected, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday.
He was addressing a gathering in connection with the bi centenary of Bengali journalism organised by the Press Club at Rabindra Sadan on Friday morning.
Calling Internet services the biggest discovery of modern times, he said it has helped people to gather information which in turn is helping society to move forward. "Social networking has become very active these days. It has its limitations but its virtues cannot be ignored," he maintained.
Mukherjee said politicians and journalism go hand in hand and is "like water and fish", adding that politicians and journalists have inseparable relationships. Politicians all over the world thought that newspapers could carry their views to the people and so their relationship with the reporters grew and both helped to build public opinion.
Referring to the role played Harish Mukherjee through Hindu Patriot during the Indigo agitation, he said his writings had attracted a large number of British politicians who used to refer to his articles in the House of Commons.
He said Mahatma Gandhi had launched Harijan Patrika to voice the demands of the untouchables.
Referring to the rich heritage of Bengali journalism, he said Hickey's Bengal Gazette was published in 1780 in Bengal. In 1870, Sir John
Campbell conducted a survey which stated that 38 newspapers were published in the country of which 19 were from Bengal.
The country's first Urdu and Hindi newspapers were published from Kolkata too. "With this backdrop, the Press Club is the right body to celebrate 200 years of Bengali journalism," he maintained.