Thakuria contributes to various newspapers of India along with several media outlets based in the different parts of the world, including The Frontier Manipur.
TFM Desk
Assam-based Northeast Journalist Nava Thakuria has been conferred the prestigious Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) Award 2021 for his initiatives to safeguard the rights of media persons and also defend press freedom in South Asia with an exemplary commitment. He was given the award on Tuesday.
It is the first time that the PEC has awarded 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. Journalists are targeted documenting abuses, corruption, criminal activities,” said PEC secretary-general Blaise Lempen in a note.
In 2021, the media fraternity in India was the most affected by the novel coronavirus along with Brazil. The PEC award also wants to pay tribute to some 300 journalists who died throughout India with 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.
Journalism, be it print, electronic or digital, remains a hazardous job in India. Media persons are not duly paid here and often they face threats from both the government and non-state actors including the goons. This year, the COVID-19 has impacted severely upon the media industry in India, he added.
Besides his home country, Thakuria has also documented media crisis in Myanmar and reported the detention of over 120 journalists after the military coup in February 2021. Nearly 40 out of them are still behind the bars in the country.
A graduate from Assam Engineering College (under Gauhati University), Thakuria opted to become a working journalist, He contributes to various newspapers of India along with several media outlets based in the different parts of the world, including The Frontier Manipur.
Starting his career as a reporter in Natun Dainik, an Assamese language daily in 1990, Thakuria shifted to freelance journalism by 1999. His focus area of reporting remains 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 alternate 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.
PEC — the global media safety and rights body with the consultative status at the United Nations, 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 works for the protection of journalists and the press freedom on the ground.
The award had earlier gone to Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui in 2020. Those who had been conferred the same award include Afghanistan Journalists Center director Ahmad Quraishi. In 2018, the award went to the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia (who was murdered in Malta in October 2017).