Silver jubilee closing ceremony of Jonai Press Club concludes

LAKHIMPUR: The 11th session and the closing ceremony of the silver jubilee festival of the Jonai Press Club, organized with a two-day programme on Wednesday and Thursday, concluded with success. It should be noted here that the Jonai Press Club was established on May 2 in 1999 with the common endeavour of a galaxy of then emerging journalists covering the Jonai sub-divisional headquarter under Dhemaji district which is located in the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border area in the northeastern corner of Assam. This press club is the only forum for the journalists of various print and electronic media working from Jonai sub-division. Since its establishment, these journalists have been serving the media by braving many problems and challenges. The press club has also been involved in various programmes for the social and intellectual development of the Jonai area.

The agenda of the joint event on Thursday started with the hoisting the press club flag by president Royal pegu. Smriti tarpan programme was conducted by general secretary Manoj Kumar Prajapati. The open session-cum-public meeting organized on the occasion commenced with Royal Pegu in the chair from 11:00 am. It was inaugurated by Dr. Dipak Kumar Doley, the Principal of Nurkongselek College. In his lecture, Dr. Doley appreciated the contributions extended by the Jonai journalists for the all-round development of the area and shed light on the past and present status of journalism in Jonai.

In the same programmes, mouth piece of Jonai Press Club, “Bartajeevee”, was ceremonially released by eminent poet Pranab Kumar Barman. In his lecture Barman said, “The media is currently facing strong challenges. The only requirement to keep the profession alive is the cooperation of the public. Entry of corporate, mafias in the field and the politically presented challenges at present are alarming threats to the profession. In the course of time, people have lost trust upon media due to a lot of unreliable activities in the field. On the other hand, Dr. Rajeswar Pegu, the Principal of Jonai Science College, released the ‘Jonai-Murkongselek: Oitijya Aru Gorima’, a book authored by journalist Bijoy Bori. “This book is an informative book about the heritage and and glory of Jonai- Murkongselek along with cultural, educational, sports and political aspects of the region,” Dr Pegu said in his lecture.

Gracing the occasion as chief guest, Monojit Borah, the editor of Asom Aditya, an Assamese daily newspaper, delivered a thought-provoking lecture on the present challenges upon journalism. “Open insult to journalists by a section of politicians is an ominous sign for the media at present,” the editor of the newspaper said. In his long speech, he added that although the media has fallen into the trap of commercialization, many many media houses are still working with social responsibility. He said the media has contributed a lot to the language and culture of Assam and it is impossible for the media to move forward without the society. He further said that the cases of the killings of fearless journalists Kamala Saikia and Parag Kumar Das were not properly investigated and the killers were able to escape through loopholes in the law. In his speech, he also mentioned the difficult situation created by social media at present. He advocated conducting workshops to improve the skills of journalists.

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