Skip to content Skip to navigation

Uncertain fate of two Assamese Journalists in Myanmar

By editor |



To,


Dr Manmohan Singh, Honourable Prime Minister of India
New Delhi


Subject: Uncertain fate of two Assamese Journalists in Myanmar


Respected Sir,


Namaskar. Hope this letter finds you in fine spirits and health. We, on behalf of Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA), would like to inform you that two Assamese journalists remain untraced since their detention in Myanmar (also known as Brahmadesh) on December 3 last. Both the journalists had reportedly gone inside the country for interviewing Paresh Baruah, the self-styled military chief of banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).


The news broke on December 4, 2011, when the news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported about their detention somewhere in Myanmar-China border areas. The PTI quoted RK Singh, Union Home Secretary for the information. While Singh denied the detention of Paresh Baruah who is at large after fleeing from Bangladesh, he informed that 'ULFA leader Jivan Moran and an Indian journalist were detained in Myanmar’ (http://www.thehindu.com/news/ national/article2686576.ece). Later it was revealed that two journalists (namely Rajib Bhattacharya who works for a newly launched English daily ‘Seven Sister's Post’ from Guwahati and a photo-journalist Pradip Gogoi) were detained inside Myanmar.


The Chief Editor of the newspaper, Subir Bhaumik, who used to work for BBC as East India Correspondent till last year, said in a television interview that his colleague (Rajib Bhattacharya) went to Myanmar in the middle of October last. “It was his project and he was determined to take the assignment,” Subir Bhaumik said adding that he had no contacts with Rajib Bhattacharya since then.


Rajib’s wife Rashmi Sharma, also a journalist, said in a television bite that she received an SMS weeks ago, where the journalist only said that he was fine and waiting for the interview.


Hiranya Bhattacharya, Rajib’s father and a former DGP of Assam, said in a television bite that he has no information about Rajib going inside Myanmar. “I only knew that Rajib went to Imphal (capital of Manipur) and later he was supposed to move to Aizawl (capital of Mizoram),” Hiranya Bhattacharya said.


The duo (Rajib Bhattacharya and Pradip Gogoi) were reportedly detained in the north-eastern part of Myanmar bordering China and later the Myanmarese authority released both of them after confiscating their laptop, camera and cell phones (http://www.dnaindia.com/ india/report_uncertainty-over- fate-indian-journalists- detained-in-myanmar_1621813). Both the journalists were supposed to arrive in Tamu-Moreh (Myanmar-India border point) by the evening of December 4. Rajib’s wife in Guwahati was contacted by some officials in the Union Home Ministry and assured that Rajib was released by the Myanmarese authority and he will soon enter Indian side (by December 4 itself). But till this moment, both the journalists have not returned to Assam. No information is available with the family about their whereabouts. The Guwahati based journalists contacted the India Embassy in Yangon where the office of the Ambassador denied having any information (about the detention of Indian journalists and subsequent release inside Myanmar).


We have not seen any statement about the incident from the Myanmarese government. Unfortunately the Assam government led by Sri Tarun Gogoi and even the Union Home Ministry have not issued any statement about the incident till date.


We are really worried about the confusing reports regarding the fate of the two journalists, who have neither come back, nor have been traced by any agency.


So we would like to make a formal request to you for taking personal interest in this matter, so that journalists Rajib Bhattacharya and Pradip Gogoi are traced and their return to India is ensured at the earliest. The Myanmarese government may also be approached by the PMO for relevant information about the two journalists.


We would be grateful for your kind initiative.


With regards,


Rupam Baruah, President
Journalists’ Forum Assam,



  • 11757 reads

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Steps to ensure safety for Assamese

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has written to his counterparts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharasthra to ensure safety of the Assamese people living in these states. According to information, Gogoi has received assurance that the people from the states would be provided adequate security in the time of ethnic clash in BTAD areas and Dhubri. Gogoi has given instruction to the district authorities to maintain calm even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Union Home Minister Sushil Shinde have given separate assurances that security will be provided to affected people.

Maximum security alert for I-Day

Security forces have been put on alert to ensure peace and normalcy during the Independence Day celebrations across the state on Wednesday. Additional forces are remaining stand by at sensitive locations to foil any attempt by militant outfits to create distrubances. The government has some intelligence inputs about ULFA’s possible attempt to disrupt the celebrations in Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts. A 'red alert' has already been sounded across the state, which witnessed a few IED blasts targeted at security personnel during the past couple of weeks, particularly in Goalpara district. The anti-talk faction of ULFA has called a customary state-...

10,000 refugees back to home

Altogether 10,636 refugees having left the camps set up to accommodate the violence-hit people in BTAD areas and Dhubri. According to government sources, 2,92,852 inmates are still sheltering in 228 relief camps. Kokrajhar district alone has 10,300 inmates in the camps. Around 336 people went back in Chirang. But nobody in Dhubri district has left the camps. Among the total inmates in the relief camp, 61,439 belong to the Bodo community while 2,31,413 are from the minority community. In Dhubri, 1,55,314 people are living in the relief camps, 77,459 in Kokrajhar, 47,477 in Chirang and 12,602 in Bongaigaon, the release said. Dhubri has the highest number of 133 relief camps followed by...

Presidential concern over BTAD violence

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday expressed grave concerns over the escalating tensions between two ethnic groups in BTAD areas and Dhubri. In his presidential address to the nation on the eve of the Independence Day, Mukherjee said, "old fires that threaten the stability of the nation have not been fully doused the ash continues to smoulder. According to Mukherjee, minorities need solace, understanding and protection from aggression. Violence is not an option violence is an invitation to greater violence. He further said that peace was required for a new economic surge in the region that can quell the competitive causes of violence.

Time to heal the wounds: Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said that time has come to revisit the Assam Accord and adapt it to the present conditions. In his address to the nation on the eve of the 66th Independence Day on Tuesday, Mukherjee said that concrete attempts are on to heal the wounds which includes the Assam accord signed by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Notably, the Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985 by the Centre, state with student leaders of the Assam.

Police medals for SSB personnel

Sashastra Seema Bal personnel have been awarded with various police service medals on the eve of Independence Day. Constable Subhash Kumar was posthumously awarded with the Police Medal for gallantry for undertaking operations against insurgents in Kokrajhar district. The other awardees of the President's Police Medal include DIGs Chanchal Shekhar (meritorious service) and Subhash Kumar (distinguished service). The Centre deploys SSB personnel along Indo-Nepal and Bhutan borders.

Protect NE people: Centre to states

The Centre has asked all states to provide security to the north east people living across the country. In a communication, the Home Ministry said there have been reports of attack on students and other people from Northeast in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and immediate steps must be taken to stop such kind of violence. These states include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. The communiqué said that a large number of Northeast people have been living in these states which is why, additional forces have been deployed.

Politicians behind Mumbai violence!

Police officials probing the recent Mumbai violence on BTAD riot have raised doubts on the role of a section of politicians from Assam. They sure of a particular political party’s role with vested interests and there was a strong possibility of some people from outside Mumbai being behind it. The agencies have found that those who indulged in violence were brought to the spot in hired buses and were armed with lathis, sickles and other instruments. Two persons were killed and at least 55 injured when a protest in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan against BTAD riots and attacks on Muslims in Myanmar turned violent on Saturday with demonstrators torching vehicles and pelting stones.

CM stresses rural Assam development

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday said that his government will give priority to the development of rural areas saying that only the rural Assam would help the state progress on all fronts. Addressing a function in Guwahati, he said that the government has been village-centric since day one as without the development of rural areas no real development can take place. Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Rakibul Hussain said a total 60 vehicles had been distributed today in the first phase to the BDOs to improve their access to the remote areas.

CM must take responsibility: AIUDF

AIUDF has asked Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to bear responsibility for the incident. Party president Badruddin Ajmal said that the law and order machinery in the state has failed and Gogoi as the chief minister has to bear the responsibility for this. The condition of the minorities affected in the violence was pathetic and they would not be able to return to their respective homes from the camps by August 15 as most are still traumatised.