Fifteen prominent journalists of Maharashtra have succumbed to COVID-19 infection so far. Recently, Senior photojournalist Vivek Bendre was working for The Hindu along with 3 other senior journalists lost their battle with COVID-19 on Sunday.
Sadanand Shinde for Navakal, Sukhnandan Gavai for Ulhasnagar daily and Jairam Sawant, assistant editor for Dainik Sagar, also died COVID-19. April 2021 which has seen the unabated rise of cases in what is being termed India’s ‘Second Wave’ has also been the worst for journalists in India, with 55 deaths being reported in just the last 28 days alone.
This implies that on average, two journalists have died every day this month. According to a study, conducted by the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies, as many as 102 journalists have succumbed to COVID-19 between 1 April 2020 and 30 April 2021. The recent news is about Aaj Tak’s senior journalist Rohit Sardana.
In Maharashtra Senior journalist Sopan Bongane, Motichand Bedmutha from Osmanabad, Ashok Tupe from Pune, Fatima R Zakaria, a freelance journalist, Pandurang Raikar of TV9 Marathi, Kailassinh Pardeshi of Saamana, Haresh Munwani veteran sports journalist, Javed Jivani former Arab News staffer, Ashok Churi of Palghar Times, Roshan Dias of TV9, Rahul Dolare succumbed to COVID-19.
