By Joaquim Fernandes, Ashley D’Mello

Mumbai, Dec 2, 2021: Social justice crusader, Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash has appealed journalists to stick out their necks and fight for a just, free and equitable world.

Accepting the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) award on December 1, Father Prakash said, “We need to wake up now, to be visible and vocal, to use our God-given talents for a more harmonious and peaceful world.”

The veteran human rights activist noted that millions of people in his country continue to live on the peripheries of a highly exploitative and exclusive society which caters to the whims and fancies and greed of a privileged elitist section of society. He called upon the media to fight a relentless war on behalf of the poor and the marginalized.

Father Prakash also asked media persons not to get carried away by electronic gadgets and to concentrate on their core concerns of fighting for human rights.

The Ahmedabad-based Jesuit activist received the Fr. Louis Careno Award that ICPa instituted with the support of the Mumbai province of the Salesians of Don Bosco in memory of Father Louis Careno, a Salesian missionary. The Jesuit priest has played an important role in the country and in the church through his bold writings against communalism and fundamentalism which are gaining ground globally.

The second winner was Sister Sujata Jena, a journalist-activist belonging to the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. The nun, based in the Odisha capital of Bhubaneswar, has been regularly contributing to major national and international news portals on human rights and Dalit issues. She made a passionate plea to continue the fight against discrimination for the weaker sections of society. She won the SC/BC Special Award set up by the ICPA and sponsored by the CBCI office for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes to promote the welfare of the marginalized peoples.

The third award for the best Hindi Writer/Institution known as the Swami Devanand Chakkungal Award, went to a magazine ‘Nishkalanka” (Immaculate) edited by Jesuit Father Justin Tirkey.

The Catholic Hindi publication from Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state, celebrated its centenary year. From its inception the Jesuit owned magazine has been a vehicle of information on religious, socio-economic and politico-cultural matters of tribal and other marginalized groups.

The ICPA awards this year were drawn from Gujarat in western India, Orissa in the east and Jharkhand in the central eastern party of the country of 1.3 million people and more than a hundred thousand registered publications. There are more than 300 languages and a thousand dialects in the country.

The awards were part of the 26th National Convention of Christian Journalists with the theme “Hit the Streets- Listen, Encounter and Engage” based on Pope Francis’s message this year for the World Communication Day that focuses on “Come and See (Jn:46): Communicating by Encountering People Where and as They convention was held at St. Paul’s Media Education Center, Bandra, Mumbai, western India.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, in a video message congratulated the ICPA members and stressed the importance of the word of the Gospel on issues of social justice and human rights.

Earlier in the day, former High Court judge, Aloysius Aguiar addressing the audience said, `Journalists must act as watchdogs when human rights and other basic rights are being trampled upon by the state and the powers that be. As news hounds they can sniff out stories that are not just sensational but which expose the rot in society, in the government and even in the Church and religious institutions.”

Nearly 40 Christian journalists from all over India attended the convention held after a gap of two years, affected by the pandemic.