Indian media persons collapsing to Covid disease as fast as 3 per day, third highest

Yogesh Sharma, Shailesh Rawal

By A Representative
The Switzerland based media rights and safety body, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has said that it is “alarming for Indian journalists”, who have lost at least 107 colleagues to Covid-19”, noting, Indian “journo-colleagues” have been collapsing to the Covid-19 complications now as fast as three scribes per day. In a statement, PEC said, “India with 107 media corona-casualties has already placed itself on the third position just below Brazil (181 dead) and Peru (140) in the list of Covid-19 victims among journalist.”
PEC's estimate, say sources, may be an underestimation, as it has yet received more updates several deaths of journalists that may have taken place across India over the last couple of days. These include two Gujarat well-known media persons, photo journalist Shailesh Rawal, who has worked with "India Today", and veteran journalist Yogesh Sharma, editor, "Chaupal Chronicle" -- both have succumbed to Covid.

The global tally has reached 1,184 victim-journalists because of the Covid-19 pandemic in 76 countries since it broke out in March 2020, PEC said, adding, other worst affected countries include Mexico (106 dead), Italy (52), Bangladesh (51), Colombia (49), USA (47), Ecuador (46), United Kingdom (28), Dominican Republic (27), Pakistan (25), Turkey (24), Iran, Russia (21 each), Argentina, Venezuela (17 each), Panama (16), Spain (15), Ukraine (14), etc.
PEC general secretary Blaise Lempen, while expressing apprehensions that the situation may worsen for the safety of journalists on the ground due to the pandemic, said, there should be “adequate compensations to the victims’ families”, emphasizing on “early vaccinations to media workers” so that they can perform their duties as corona warriors.

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PEC’s India representative Nava Thakuria said, “Even after the launch of a massive corona-vaccination programme, India lately witnessed the death of journalists Amjad Badshah (Odisha), Tanmoy Chakraborty (Tripura), Vivek Bendre, Sachin Shinde, Jairam Sawant, Sukhnandan Gavai (Maharashtra), Ram Prakash Gupta (Bihar), Rohitash Gupta (Uttar Pradesh), Ramjan Ali (Andhra Pradesh), etc.”

“The probability to increase the number of media corona-victims in India is really higher as a number of established media houses have not reported about the actual number of casualties, reasons best known the them,” Thakuria, who is a Guwahati-based journalist, said, regretting, “Many media houses even showed callousness while reporting their own corona-positive cases probably to avoid the authority’s interference under the existing health protocols.”

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