Strange it may sound when a leader of the trade union becomes a trader of the union but it is a fact. Here is a case of a trade union leader who has used his position to become a liquor vendor. He is not the leader of a trade union of the blue-collar workers but he is a leader of journalists, who consider themselves lily-white collar workers, nay intellectuals.
Journalists are expected to be the watchdogs of the society but what can one do when they turn into the lapdogs. It is like fence eating the crops. There is no point in beating about the bush. Spade needs to be called spade. The journalist in question is none else but the President of the ‘Journalists Union of Assam’, affiliated to the ‘Indian Journalists Union’ (Sinha faction). His name is Geetartha Pathak, who has been working as the Assistant Editor of the Assamese weekly ‘Assam Bani’ till his dismissal from the ‘Aassom Tribune’.
Our writing on this issue should not be taken as ravings and rantings against the rival organisation of journalists but its purpose is to cleanse such elements from trade unions, wherever they are. The journalists of Assam, cutting across the unions, have approached us that we should take up this issue with the appropriate authorities to ensure that the frauds of Mr. Geetartha Pathak was not be allowed to be perpetrated.
This is necessary to maintain the sanctity and sanctimony of the trade unions, more so, to save the image of the journalist’s trade unions from being spoiled and tarnished by thugs. Many important journalists of Assam including, Munin Bayan, (Executive Editor- Dainik Assam), Samudra Gupta Kashyap (Special Correspondent , Indian Express), Sushanta Talukdar (Senior Assistant Editor-Hindu), Prabeen Kalita (Deputy Bureau Chief-Times of India), Mrinal Talukdar (Joint Editor-DY365), Ramanuj Dutta Chaudhary (Bureau Chief of the Assam Tribune), Enaxi Baruva (Bureau Chief-PTI), Ajit Sharma (Chief Reporter-Dainik Assam) Manoj Anand (Special Correspondent the Asian Age), Durba Ghosh, (Senior Journalists-Press Trust of India), Rahul Karmakar (Assistant Editor-Hindustan Times) have written to the Collector and the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup District, Guwahati to probe into the fraud of Mr. Geetartha Pathak. It is to be mentioned here that Geetartha Pathak, in order to obtain the liquor license, submitted a list of the members of the Journalists Union of Assam (JUA) consisting the names of the above journalists. When they came to know about it, they got numbed with shock. The journalists of Assam have also demanded that the there must be some high officials who would be complicit in the fraud. It is a crystal clear that such types of humbugs always carry out the illegalities when persons in the high places are hand in gloves with them. The President of Assam Working Journalists Union, Keshab Kalita has got many other damning information about Geetartha Pathak through the RTI as he has been misusing the Union for such activities for quite long time.
What is all the more surprising is that when disciplinary action was taken against him by the Assam Tribune Group of Newspapers he tried to create a hullabaloo that a trade union leader was victimized. No wonder, the plant union welcomed the decision of the management against wolf operating in the sheep’s clothing. His parent organisation also tried to raise this issue in the meeting of International Federation of Journalists held at Kathmandu (Nepal) but the IFJ was saved from the mortifying embarrassment because of some members from other countries. Otherwise, he would have prevailed upon the IFJ to pass a resolution in favor of a swindler and cheat.
Interestingly, these are the people, who make mountain out of a mole of somebody else but cover their own moles and acnes and rashes with the thick layer of disingenuous cosmetics.
We, therefore, call upon all the trade union leaders to drive out such impostors to maintain the dignity of the profession of journalism and faith in the trade union leaders.
We take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all the senior journalists of Assam, and also to the President of the Assam Journalists Union Keshab Kalita, who have taken up cudgels on behalf of the journalists of the Assam to take the issue to the logical conclusion.
Parmanand Pandey
Secretary General
IFWJ
