Journalist Pradip Kumar Gogoi, who once traveled to Myanmar to meet NE's rebel leaders, passes away at 53

Duliajan: Assam yesterday bid adieu to one of its prominent journalist Pradip Kumar Gogoi who breathed his last at 53. He passed away at the Shristi Nursing Home in Dibrugarh after a prolonged illness. He is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.

The body of the deceased was then taken to his ancestral home in Tingrai Chariali of Duliajan where a mood of doom and gloom prevailed. Several prominent personalities -- including the local MLA Teros Gowalla -- went to pay their last respects to the deceased soul. Several prominent regional organizations -- such as the All Assam Students' Union, Tai Ahom Students' Union, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad, All Assam Minority Students' Union -- paid their tribute to Gogoi, who was widely respected in the community.

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Death of the veteran journalist has cast a pall of gloom over Assam. Over the years, Gogoi had become one of the most respected journalists in Upper Assam. He had held several honorary posts and was also renowned for being an active social worker.

Pradip Kumar Gogoi had worked as a journalist from Duliajan for several prominent news channels like NE TV, DY365, News Time Assam, and Prime News.

Known for his hard-nosed and instinctive journalist, Gogoi is known for his journey to meet Northeast rebel leaders, including United Liberation Front of Axom (I) supremo Paresh Baruah. Fellow journalist Rajeev Bhattacharyya, who journeyed with Gogoi into the deep jungles of Myanmar to meet the rebels, remembers him as an "upbeat" personality.

"I first met him in 2007 just a week after I shifted from Delhi. He was the man who first  ULFA Raising Day celebrations. Then and there we decided to reach the camps of Myanmar. In the third week of April, 2007. I established a link with Paresh Barua, and I called him to Guwahati. That was in March, 2011. Both of us started exercising to prepare ourselves for what we anticipated would be an arduous journey," Bhattacharyya told Inside Northeast.

"Believe me, the journey was incredibly tough. There were times when we thought we could not complete the journey. Both of us spent the time consoling each other. We supported each other. He was a very lively person -- I have never seen him getting sad or depressed. He was always very cheerful, always very upbeat," the senior journalist added.

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