A 40-year-old Assam journalist has embarked on a 1000 km bicycle ride to spread awareness about the social safety and security of journalists of the state.
Journalist Snehankar Chakraborty, who hails from North Assam’s Biswanath district, has started his journey at a time when a local reporter was beaten up by gamblers at Mirza on the outskirts of Guwahati and the a journalist in Tinsukia district died in hit-and run case.
Snehankar, who is also an Assamese poet, has started his bicycle trip from his home town Biswanath Chariali and will cover Dhola Sadiya, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, and Jorhat districts.
Parag Bhuyan, a journalist with an Asamese TV journalist, has died in a hit and run case recently.
His family members suspect he was killed for reporting on illegal transportation of coal and timbers besides writing about a woman BJP leader, who allegedly assaulted a police official at Kakopathar police station.
Days after Bhuyan was run over near his home, another journalist from Assam’s Kamrup district was reportedly tied to an electric pole and attacked by goons at the Mirza area.
Forty-two-year-old Milan Mahanta, a journalist with an Assamese daily, was attacked purportedly for reporting on gambling activities in the Mirza area of Kamrup district.
Earlier, Snehankar had completed a 300-km bicycle ride from Guwahati to Biswanath Chariali to raise awareness on the same issue.
“This time, I am taking a 1000-km ride from Biswanath to Sadiya for social safety and security of journalists. I was working as a journalist and presently I am freelancing. I will always stand with journalists,” India Today quoted Snehankar as saying.