GANGTOK, March 31 � An eight member team of journalists from Assam visited Sikkim on an exchange programme in collaboration with the Sikkim Press Club here recently to foster fraternal relations with the journalist community in the Himalayan State.
During their five-day visit, the Assam-based journalists exchanged views and had interactions with various sections of the society as well. The visit was organized by the Journalists Union of Assam (JUA) and the team comprised of Geetartha Pathak, JUA President, Bedabrata Lahkar, General Secretary, Sunil Das, Joysing Tokbi, Manoj Bora, Dipen Bayan, Jogen Sutradhar and Dhonsing Ronghang.
The team during their sojourn made trips to South Ravangla, Singtam, Namchi, etc., in South Sikkim and witnessed several developmental programmes. They visited the under-construction Buddha Park which is dominated by a 128 feet tall Buddha statue, claimed to be the tallest in Asia. Another spot of tourist and pilgrim interest was the �Chardham� (four temples) which boasts of the exact replicas of the famed Hindu temples at Dwarka in the west, Rameswaram in the south, Badrinath in the north and Jagannath Puri in the east.
The JUA team also visited the Indo-China border at snow-bound Nathula (12,000 feet) and the frozen Tsomgo lake. The scribes observed that while the Indian side was abuzz with activities, a lone Chinese soldier was on vigil on the other side of the fence.
The team was briefed on rural development activities in Sikkim by the State�s Rural Development and I & PR Minister Sanjay Bahadur Karki. The team also interacted with several senior journalists in the State capital Gangtok including Sikkim Press Club Secretary Joseph Lepcha, Anjan Upadhyaya, Prakash Adhikari, Bikash Centaury and Sarikah Atreya. During the interaction, the team felicitated noted artist Kiran Rasaily at his residence here.
During their visit, an ad-hoc Sikkim Journalist Union was formed as a State unit of the Indian Journalists� Union. A joint meeting decided to hold the National Executive meet of the IJU and a seminar on problems of journalists in Gangtok in early May.
The team was invited to a luncheon by the State Governor Balmiki Prasad Singh. The team members felicitated him with gamocha and Karbi jacket while Manoj Bora presented him with copies of �Destination Tezpur�, a documentary produced by him on the tourist spots of Sonitpur.
