Hyderabad: Several prominent Editors and journalists said Kakarlapudi Narasimha Yoga Patanjali was a great humanist who depicted trials and travails of the common man as a journalist and author. Speaking at a condolence meeting organized by Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) at Deshodharaka Bhawan here on Saturday, they said he never allowed himself to be co-opted into the power structure and always stood for the deprived sections. Mr. D Somasundar, President, Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) was in the chair.

Patanjali, Editor of Sakshi Daily and prominent writer, died on 11th March at a private hospital in Visakhapatnam after a prolonged illness.
 
The Executive Director (News) of Sakshi Daily Mr. Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said Patanjali could not earn name and fame or money and power. In the conventional sense, he was never successful in three and half decades of his career as a journalist and author. But he was most successful by depicting the trials and travails of the deprived sections of the people as an author and journalist. He said he had an inimitable style in writing as a journalist and author. He lamented that the present generation journalists were neglecting the habit of reading and said that was why they could not come into contact with the writings of Patanjali. He said the Patanjali’s writings should be translated into English and other Indian languages so that they could reach larger sections of people. He suggested that a serious effort should be made by his friends and admirers in that direction and offered his co-operation.

Paying tributes to Patanjali, Devulapalli Amar, Chairman, Press Academy said the friends and admirers of the departed Editor should come together and his writings should be popularized not only in the state but also in the country. He said in his youth he came to realize the brutality built into the police machinery after reading the Khaki Vanam authored by Patanjali. Whatever he wrote, it became a talking point of the day, he said.

K Srinivas, Editor of Andhra Jyothi Daily said he learnt alphabets of journalism from Patanjali. He said his satirical style and language brought out the ills of the society into open powerfully. He was never angry with cruel persons but expressed his ire against the establishment that made the person cruel.  His works should be popularized for the benefit of the posterity, he said.

The Editor of Andhra Bhoomi, M V R Sastry said during the short period he worked with Patanjali, he learnt more about literature than journalism. He was a humanist to the core and behaved the same way when he was in high position or out of it and it was the best quality every journalist should emulate, he said. He complimented the management of Sakshi daily for the treating with respect when he was alive and ailing and when he was dead. In the present day and time, it was a rare case of management showing respect to a departed Editor.  

K Sreenivas Reddy, Secretary-General, Indian Journalists Union (IJU) said Patanjali never deviated from the high ideals and ethics of journalism. He always stood for the cause of the oppressed and tried to be a voice of the voice less. Y Narender Reddy, General Secretary, APUWJ, senior journalists, Nandiraju Radhakrishna, Kurmanath, M Durga Kumar, noted poet Vegunta Mohan Prasad and others spoke.   

In a resolution moved by the President of APUWJ, D Somasundar, the meeting requested the Government of Andhra Pradesh to publish the collected works of Patanjali and make available to the people in all public libraries. Earlier, the meeting observed two minutes silence in memory of the departed editor. Prominent Editors and journalists offered floral tributes to the portrait of Patanjali.