Parag Kumar Das Journalism award to be awarded to Shantanu Nandan Sharma

Guwahati, February 15, 2019:

Shantanu Nandan Sharma, a senior journalist has been selected for the 2019 Parag Kumar Das Journalism award.

The award will be conferred upon him on Parag Das’s 58th birthday, on 24th February at Vivekananda Kendra. An amount of Rupees 25 thousand of cash award and citation has been included in this award.

Parag Kumar das was a radical journalist, human right activist and one of the founders of human rights movement in Assam. He was assassinated by Surrendered United Liberation Front of Asom (SULFA) in May 17, 1996, while taking back his young son from school in Chandmari, Guwahati. He was killed in broad day-light. His open murder created huge outrage in the entire state of Assam and the human rights circles of the country.

In 2001, CBI filed its chargesheet in Kamrup District and Sessions Court against four accused- Mridul Phukan alias Samar Kakati, Diganta Baruah, Tapan Dutta alias Biswajit Saikia and Nayan Das alias Guli.

Before the CBI filed its chargesheet, Diganta Baruah and Tapan Dutta were killed and in 2003 Nayan Das was hacked to death by a furious mob in Dibrugarh. Promod Gogoi and Prabin Sarma, two other suspects were not charge-sheeted for lack of evidence against them. Mridul Phukan is the only surviving accused in the case. But after thirteen years, on July 28, 2009, Justice Dilip Kumar Mahanta, District and Sessions Judge, Kamrup, has acquitted the prime accused citing lack of solid evidence.