Tongam Rina

Tongam Rina (born 1979) is an Indian journalist and human rights activist. She is currently (2020) the Editor of The Arunachal Times and president of the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists. She has been repeatedly threatened, and in 2012, was near-fatally shot outside her office after she wrote critical articles about corruption, militants and dam projects in Arunachal Pradesh.[1][2][3]

Tongam Rina
Tongam Rina in 2019
OccupationJournalist
Notable credit(s)
The Arunachal Times

Career

Rina has been a journalist for over 30 years, writing about the insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM), corruption, hydropower projects, and the injustices that the tribals face.[1] Some of the topics covered include corruption in kerosene and food distribution. She also leads the Siang People's Forum as its vice-president, campaigning against the plans to construct dams across the Siang River.[4]

Assassination attempt

Rina was shot at by three gunmen on the evening of 15 July 2012, outside the Itanagar office of The Arunachal Times. She was immediately taken to the nearby Rama Krishna Mission Hospital, where the doctors' prognosis revealed that she had sustained serious injuries to her intestines and spinal cord, and she was rushed into surgery. After repeated demands from the press, the state's police department handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which turned it down. More than a year later, the police identified one Yumlang Achung as having planned the attack. His accomplices, Ajit Pegu and Raju Gurung revealed that they were upset at Rina for not reporting about Achung or his group's activities in her newspaper.[5] Achung was later arrested and released, and Rina recovered from her injuries, as the bullet had simply grazed her spinal cord.[6]

Awards and accolades

For her journalistic work covering the unsuitability of hydropower projects, she received "Wind under the Wings Award" presented in 2017 by The Sanctuary Nature Foundation.[7][8] She has also been awarded the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in Public Service, for the year 2015,[9] the Laadli Media Award 2011–12 for Gender Sensitivity, and was honoured by the Reporters Without Borders in 2014. In 2013, she was chosen for the 'Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media', awarded by the Media Foundation of Leipzig, Germany.[10]

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References
  1. Datta, Saikat (17 July 2012). "Tongam Rina, the girl who wouldn't give in". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  2. "Amnesty's 'edit-a-thon' to profile women activists on Wikipedia". Deccan Herald. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  3. K, Sarumathi (19 May 2018). "Putting women human rights activists on the world map". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  4. "Woman journalist critically injured in shooting attack in northeast". Reporters Without Borders. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  5. "Itanagar Police solve shootout case involving Arunachal Times Associate Editor Tongam Rina". Business Standard. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  6. "INFORMATION HERO Tongam Rina". Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  7. "Sanctuary Wildlife Awards 2017". sanctuaryasia.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  8. Bakshi, Harsharan (9 December 2017). "Scarcity of resources will make headlines". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  9. "Tongam Rina wins Indian of the Year in public service category". News18. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  10. "'Reporters Sans Frontier' honours journalist Tongam Rina". The Economic Times. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
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