Award for Frontline journalist

VIKHAR Ahmed Sayeed, Special Correspondent of Frontline in Bengaluru, has been awarded the B.G. Thimmappiah Award by the Karnataka Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) for his reportage on “economically weaker sections of society”. The award was presented by K.S. Eshwarappa, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, at the KUWJ’s 33rd State level meet at Shravanabelagola on January 20. The jury consisted of members of the KUWJ.

Vikhar was given the award for his reporting in 2016. During that year, he reported on a wide variety of issues that affected the marginalised sections of society. His work took him to remote parts of Karnataka as he sought out stories on issues such as deprivation.

One story he wrote was on the plight of mulberry growers, who are also silk worm rearers, in south Karnataka, as the onslaught of cheap Chinese silk caused a reduction in prices. Another was on the condition of the marginalised Siddis, descendants of African migrants, who lived on the peripheries of forests in north-west Karnataka. He also wrote on the discrimination faced by the Jogappas, a community of transexual singers and dancers in north Karnataka. His investigative report on the Dalit Madiga caste in north Karnataka pointed out that its members were still forced into bonded labour for agricultural work.