Guwahati (The Stellar News) : Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) condoled the death of city based senior photo journalist and author Mahesh Chandra Medhi (75), who breathed his last yesterday (18 November 2020) after suffering from heart related ailments for some years. He left behind wife, one son, one daughter with a host of relatives and well-wishers. Medhi, who was honoured by the State government on National Press Day 2020, initially worked for popular Assamese newspaper Neelachal,
English daily News Star, Assam Tribune, etc. Later he edited Alok, an Assamese news magazine inspired by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology and lately owned & edited Rongili Barta weekly.
As a photojournalist, Medhi extensively covered the historic Assam agitation (1979 to 1985). Hailed from Bamundi in Sualkuchi locality of central Assam, Medhi served RSS for many years as a Pracharak in undivided Kamrup district. He was the lone representative from Assam in Nagpur when Bharatiya Janata Party was born in 1980 out of broader alliance Janata Party originated with Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951 to 1977).
Meanwhile, JFA president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria expressed shock over the brutal murder of a rural reporter along with his wife in Sonbhadra locality of Uttar Pradesh on 16 November and demanded stringent punishments to the culprits. Uday Paswan, who was associated with a Lucknow-based Hindi daily died on the spot, where his wife Sheetla Paswan succumbed to injuries next day in the hospital.
Earlier Suraj Pandey (25), who worked for a Hindi newspaper, was found dead on a railway track at Sadar Kotwail area on 12 November. His family members in Unnao locality claimed that Pandey was murdered. The police registered a case against a woman inspector (Sunita Chaurasia), her driver (Amar Singh) with a few unidentified person on charges of murder, conspiracy and criminal intimidation. Days back, Bhopal based news channel reporter Syed Adil Wahab (35) was found murdered in a forest area on 8 November. Same day, Tamil scribe Isravel Moses (27) was hacked to death by a group of anti-social elements in Kancheepuram. Moses, who used to work for Tamizhan TV was attacked by the goons near to his residence. He was rushed to Chromepet government hospital, but the doctors declared him brought dead.
The first journo-casualty in India this year was reported from UP’s Unnao locality, where Shubham Mani Tripathi (25), who worked for Hindi daily KampuMail, fell prey to bullets of two shooters on 19 June. Shubham reported on illegal sand mining practices in his area and thus the young and brave journalist invited enmity from a group of criminals, some of whom were swiftly arrested by the police.
