Tributes to veteran journalist Gour Kishore Ghosh on his birth centenary

Gour Kishore Ghosh died on December 15, 2000 at the age of 77.

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A panel discussion held in Kolkata on Tuesday to celebrate the life of Gour Kishore Ghosh. Express

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“He was a man who questioned everything. He never accepted status quo,” said Patricia Mukhim, Editor of Shillong Times, as she recalled Gour Kishore Ghosh at an event in Kolkata to celebrate the life of veteran journalist on his birth centenary.

The panel discussion, held at Kolkata’s Birla Sabha Griha on Tuesday, was on the Deshprem-Deshdroh.

Taking part in the discussion, Mukhim described the Magsaysay award winner as a “journalist philosopher”. “He (Ghosh) went to jail for a cause he believed in. He dared to write an open letter to Indira Gandhi and called her a fascist. We don’t have men and women of such calibre. We are all now into balancing act because no one knows when you will booked under sedition,” said Mukhim.

“When Gour Kishore Ghosh picked up the issue, challenging the absence of freedom of speech, India was 28 years old. Even then democracy was under threat. Today, India is 75 years old, but we cannot say we are better off today,” she said.

Expressing concern over the violence in Manipur, Mukhim said “sometimes India forgets that India’s northeast shares international borders of 5,182 km…”

Quoting Rabindranath Tagore, Semanti Ghosh, Associate Editor of Anandabazar Patrika, said: “The truths that save us have always been uttered by few and rejected by many and have triumphed through their failures.”

The panel discussion was attended by Dr Amit Roy, Sahana Nag Chowdhury, Patrali Ghosh, Prakriti Mukherjee, and Pratyush Mukherjee.