The Assam-based working journalist was presented the award on 30 November 2021 remotely as it was difficult for him to reach Geneva due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
“It is the first time that the PEC rewards a journalist from India, the second most populous country of the world. India has a strong democracy and a vibrant press. Last year however, a record number of 15 journalists were killed in India and six this year,” noted PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen.
In 2021, the media fraternity in India was the worst-affected by the novel coronavirus along with Brazil. The PEC award also wants to pay tribute to some 300 journalists who died in India from Covid-19 complications.
“Receiving the PEC award is a great honour and represents a strong incentive to continue my work. I now feel more responsible for my colleagues in the media fraternity. At the same time, I greatly appreciate this award which draws attention to the situation of journalists in my country,” said Thakuria, who’s also started contributing a column for this website (www.thenewsporter.com).
“Journalism, be it print, electronic or digital, remains a hazardous job. Media persons are not duly paid here. This year, the Covid-19 has impacted severely upon the media industry in India,” he added.
Besides his home country, Thakuria has also taken the pain to document the media crisis in Myanmar (also known as Burma or Brahmadesh) and reported the detention of more than 120 journalists after the military coup in February. Nearly 40 out of them are still behind the bars there.
A graduate from Assam Engineering College (under Gauhati University), Thakuria chose to become a professional journalist and contributes to national and international media.
Starting his career as a reporter with Natun Dainik, an Assamese language daily in 1990, Thakuria shifted to freelance journalism in 1999. His focus areas of reporting remain the socio-political, cultural and environmental developments taking place in eastern India along with Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The changing faces of mainstream journalism after the advent of alternative media worldwide is also a primary focus area for him. He has visited most of the prime localities in India and also Thimphu, Dhaka, Yangon, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Copenhagen, Chicago, etc. for different global events and professional assignments.
Created in the Swiss city of Geneva in 2004 by a group of journalists, PEC is the global media safety and rights body with consultative status at the United Nations. It is devoted to strengthening the legal protection and safety of journalists around the world. Since 2009, it has been awarding its annual prize to an individual or an organization, who work for the protection of journalists and press freedom on the ground.
The award had earlier gone to Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui in 2020. In the previous year, the PEC award went to the Afghanistan Journalists Center director Ahmad Quraishi, while in 2018 it went to the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia (who was murdered in Malta in October 2017).
(The main/featured picture on top by Pixabay has been used for illustrative purpose only)
