This fifth day of July 2017 calls upon us at the Daily Excelsior to solemnly commemorate the fifth death anniversary of the founder editor of the paper, S D Rohmetra and pay glowing tribute to his historic contribution in the field of journalism both in the State and at national level.
A look in retrospect gives us an idea of his vision and innovative faculty when he laid the foundation of an English paper, first as a weekly, and later, as a daily newspaper named Daily Excelsior. The paper intended to cater to the information domain of the entire State though, of course, during the teething period, understandably its dependence on Jammu readership was of much consequence. With the passage of time, Daily Excelsior, under Shri S D Rohmetra’s far-sighted stewardship, graduated with confidence and determination to feel the pulse of the reading public in the entire State and even outside the State, and consequently widened the scope of its service to variegated interests of the reading public. That is the dynamics of an absorbing newspaper that has the capability of keeping abreast with the latest situation around us on regional, national and international levels and dovetailing it to the liking of the people of various tastes.
It goes to the credit of Shri S D Rohmetra to have translated universally accepted just and sustainable principles and norms of objective, unbiased and impartial journalism into practice. This is an area where many a stalwart fear to tread. It is this fundamental characteristic that has given the Daily Excelsior the pride of place as the leading English daily from the State with the highest circulation.
For more than two decades and half, J&K State is grappling with the cursed phenomenon of externally sponsored and abetted Theo-fascism to arrest our progress and development and sow the seeds of disruption and discord among the sections of civil society. We have no need to reflect on State’s response to this State of affairs but as the Fourth Estate we are fully conscious of our responsibility of helping the State in cooling down tempers, ironing out angularities, sensitizing stakeholders to their duty to the people, who have sincerely voted representatives into power and expect them to perform their genuine role. This is an onerous task for any newspaper with strong nationalistic propensities. It is precisely in this area where the principles and policy of Shri S D Rohmetra were the lodestar steering the ship of Daily Excelsior through stormy waters of State politics.
We have also been fortunate to have with us a team of experienced, dedicated and responsible workers whose sense of duty has served as the sheet anchor of the success of Daily Excelsior. This team has demonstrated the highly satisfying results of good and cohesive teamwork. We are happy to say with a sense of satisfaction and pride that we have not let the tradition handed down to us by the founding Editor suffer any lacuna. As such we are confident that future promises more laurels for Daily Excelsior.
Our homage to Shri S D Rohmetra will be incomplete if we do not recognize the role of our readers in extending fullest encouragement to us in our service. We highly value the views, opinions and comments of our valuable readers. After all it is the reader who determines the standard and popularity of the newspaper. In that sense we have always received fullest support and appreciation from them and we are indebted for the same.
-Kamal & Neeraj
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