Meghalaya education minister Lahkmen Rymbui urged academia to explore the use of scientific method of enquiry by conducting research on the rich traditions, myths and superstitions among the tribal cultures of the Northeast and present those studies in public domain.
Rymbui made this appeal while speaking on Tuesday evening at the valedictory session of the two-day national seminar on ‘Contesting the Site of Sights: The Discourse of Visual Media Cultures with Special References to Northeast India’ held at the English and Foreign Languages University, Shillong Campus.
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The seminar was organised jointly by the departments of ELT and Mass Communication and sponsored by the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute for Asian Studies, Kolkata and ICSSR-NERC.
The seminar had 76 participants from across the country.
Citing an example of ‘thlen’ and ‘taro’, the minister stressed on the need to explore these cultural superstitions scientifically.
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He also stressed on the responsibility that media consumers and media itself should shoulder while addressing viral stories on social media platforms.
The minister also cautioned against the menace of fake news that deceived the masses.
“We have to be very careful, otherwise we will be trapped by these social and visual media,” Rymbui pointed out.
The session concluded with the felicitation of the former Director of the Shillong Campus and Pro Vice-Chancellor of EFL University, Prof. K.C. Baral, who superannuated in May last.