Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha who was earlier thrown in jail, detaining him under NSA for his un-parliamentary outburst against the BJP,  RSS and Manipur chief minister,  calling the chief minister a puppet, was awarded the  prestigious “Redink” award on Friday by the Mumbai Press Club. 
Kishorechandra was among the 32 pen warriors who were honoured for their determination and guts, celebrating the power of their questioning. 
Journalist, Kishorchandra Wangkhemcha was honoured amidst  scores of national journalists who came from all parts of the nation at the  Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA,  Mumbai on Friday, 

Kishorechandra was among the high profile journalist panels who participated in the discussion on the theme, “Journalism is dead, Long live journalism,” moderated by senior editor, NDTV’s Abhishek Sharma. Other panellists include Barkha Dutt and Mumbai Mirror editor Meenal Baghel.

Kishorechand was arrested last year under the stringent National Security Act for his un-parliamentary criticism against the  government. He got out afte r languishing in jail for more than five months despite deteriorating health conditions. 

“I thought it was my duty to bring out the truth. Once I was jailed under the NSA, the narratives of my truth in the papers changed.” 
Ms. Dutt spoke about media’s credibility crisis where she expressed,  “in  present day anything that is a small gradation from the dominant narrative is punished. Where some of us enjoy the privilege of getting not arrested for speaking aloud, journalism is structurally dying.” 

She further strongly lamented that,”while journalists have been left  craving for ministerial access, news reporting has been put on the backbunner”

Echoing similar sentiment, Ms. Baghel retaliated that with inherent laziness in reporting, the real art of storytelling has been forgotten. 

Life time Achievement Award was bagged by  both Sebastian D’souza of Mumbai Mirror and Dinu Randive from Maharashtra Times. While Rachna Khaira from The Tribune bagged the honour of Journalist of the Year. The Mumbai Star Reporter award was given to Ranjeet Jadhav of Mid-Day.

Vaishna Roy from The Hindu and Faiyaz Ahmed Wajeeh of The Wire won in the newly introduced Arts category in print and television respectively.

“The general public today is turning on their anger on the journalists, which indicates their lack of trust. Today, the public believes that we are feeding them with fake news and narratives,” said Gurbir Singh, president of the Mumbai Press Club. He started the ceremony by emphasising the low credibility that haunts journalism at present. 

This  Red Ink Awards for Excellence in Journalism are announced annually by the Mumbai Press Club and recognise meritorious work in TV, print and digital formats.

Awards are presented in various categories such as politics, crime, health and wellness, business, environment, human rights, photography, science and innovation, entertainment and lifestyle, and sports as well as a category called ‘Mumbai Star Reporter’. It is the only awards instituted by a professional body.