Late Khelen Thokchom fittingly remembered

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 27: Renowned journalist, (late) Khelen Thokchom who passed away on April 1 last year, was remembered today on his 59th birth anniversary which was held at Manipur Press Club under the aegis of Khelen Thokchom Trust.
As a part of the event, rich floral tributes were paid to the portrait of Khelen Thokchom.
H Balkrishna, Director of DIPR, handed over certificates, citations and shawls to sports journalist of Poknapham Daily Heikrujam Sadananda and reporter of Imphal Free Press  ST Lelen Vaiphei both of whom had completed the 1st edition  media fellowship of the Khelen Thokchom Trust under the topic 'Prospect of Cricket in Manipur'.
The media reports of the two journalists were published as booklets and released during the function today by H Balkrishna, Khogendra Khomdram, president of Editors' Guild Manipur, Yumnam Rupachandra, general secretary of Editors' Guild Manipur, Bijoy Kakchingtabam, president of AMWJU, MC Arun, Professor of Manipur University and RK Dilip, former Director (Communication and Capacity Development Unit) PHED.
On the other hand, the 2nd media fellowship of Khelen Thokchom Trust was conferred to staff reporter of Imphal Free Press, Babie Shirin under the topic 'Water crisis and its management in Manipur'.
Prof MC Arun, while recounting his association with late Khelen Thokchom, said that Manipur has lost a visionary journalist with Khelen's passing.
“He was an angry man, he was angry about the rotten system of our society, he was not happy about the attitude of the politicians, Government officers and he was very unhappy and angry towards the declining morals of the youth of Manipuri society” said Professor MC Arun.
He further stated that Khelen was a journalist who reported news and events with a cause and was never bored of starting arguments with people who were in power to find his story line.
President of Editors' Guild Manipur Khogendra Khomdram, while sharing his days with Khelen Thokchom, said that Khelen Thokchom had struggled a lot to reach his position.
“He was never a happy man, poverty stuck with him during his school and college days and his dream of continuing PhD after completing his master's degree was shattered due to his poverty', said Khogendra Khomdram.
President of All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union, Bijoy Kakchingtabam also recounted how they suffered and toiled when they started their profession.
Giving the key note address of the function, Sobhabati Samom, secretary of the Khelen Thokchom trust, stated that the Trust is a public charitable trust dedicated to late Khelen Thokchom and the objective of the trust is to promote excellence in journalism in the State, to institute fellowship/ award in the field of journalism, to institute fellowship/ award in field of music and to institute a media research centre.
Others who attended the function included senior journalist Pradeep Phanjoubam and senior journalist Ahongsangbam Mobi.