Kamala Saikia, a journalist who was killed by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants way back on August 9, 1991, was recalled during the 26th Swahid Kamala Saikia Memorial Meet held at Udalguri Press Club in Udalguri on Thursday.
“Swahid Kamala Saikia was a fearless torch-bearer of our society. He continued his scribbling against the social injustice and meaninglessness of armed struggle in Assam and sacrificed his life challenging against the social odds,” said the president of BTC Journalists’ Association, Gautamjyoti Talukdar, speaking on the occasion.
Talukdar also said, “We, the people related to the media world, have to learn a lot from this fearless soldier of fourth pillar of democracy. We still lament for the failure of the Government to nab the culprits behind the inhuman killings of the first martyr in the world of Assamese journalism (Kamala Saikia) and another iconic media figure, Parag Das and reiterate our legal demand to apprehended the killers of these sentinels of the society.”
The 26th Swahid Kamala Saikia Memorial Meet was organised by the Udalguri District Journalists’ Union on Thursday.
The memorial meet was chaired by the president of Udalguri District Journalists’ Union, Jayanta Kumar Das. The programme got underway with floral tributes to the martyr journalist by the media persons of the district.