Report~Vipin Dhuliya, IFWJ, Secy.-General
♂÷New Delhi, 24 April : Eminent trade unionist and former news editor of Delhi’s Urdu daily “the Pratap” Comrade Santosh Kumar, died yesterday at his Jorbagh flat in New Delhi. He was 94 and is survived by his daughter Vibha and two grandsons Abhinav and Yashravi. Santosh was born in Lahore on 23 June 1927, but always protested to Passport Officer who wrote “born in Pakistan.” Santosh Kumar had insisted that his place of birth be written as “born in undivided Indian city of Lahore.”
The Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) dips its red banner in the fond memory of its former secretary-general (1980-82). At the Ernakulam 19th plenum (1980) he had succeeded K. Vikram Rao.
Among many achievements as IFWJ leader, Santosh will be remembered for his wage board work and crusade for the Urdu Katibs. When the issue of journalist representation in the Justice D.G. Palekar wage board came up, a commission with Kerala judge E.K. Moidoo (colleague of Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer) was set up by the Indira Gandhi government to verify different journalist claims. Because of Santosh Kumar’s relentless work the Moidoo Commission ruled that the IFWJ was India’s largest trade union of working journalists.
It was Santosh Kumar’s tireless struggle which helped katibs get a place among working journalists. He had also obtained a court award in katibs’ favour. When the agitation against Bihar Congress chief minister, Dr. Jagananath Mishra’s black Press Bill was launched, Santosh Kumar in Delhi conducted the nationwide struggle, while his IFWJ working committee colleague K. Vikram Rao was jailed (1983) in Patna with other demonstrators.
Santosh Kumar was associated with several plant-level unions of Delhi newspapers employees, representing the All-Indian Newspaper Employees Federation.
Santosh Kumar authored two travelogues. One was titled “Delhi to Berlin” (GDR) in English and Hindi, while the other was “Lahorenama” in three languages. He was editing the journal “Trade Union Record”, published by the All-India Trade Union Congress, labour wing of the Communist Party of India, led by S.A. Dange.
When the IFWJ held its 21st plenary session on 25-27 June 1984 at Ayodhya, Santosh contested for one of the two posts of vice-presidents. In the triangular contest he lost to a young rival Prakash Dubey, now group editor of daily Bhaskar in Nagpur. Dubey was also general secretary of the Editors Guild of India and IFWJ nominee on the Press Council.
I.J.U. president B.R. Prajapati (Gujarat), general secretary G. Prabhakaran, Kerala and former IJU president Akhouri Suresh Prasad have conveyed their heartfelt condolences.
Mukesh Seth
IFWJ secretary (west), Mumbai
