KATHMANDU, April 30: A renowned Indian television anchor, Rohit Sardana,41, passed away on Friday. He reportedly died of a heart attack although he had also tested positive for COVID-19 roughly a week ago.
The untimely death of Sardana came as a major shock to the media community at large. A number of Indian journalists as well as others are paying their heartfelt tribute to the late Sardana.
Speed up testing
Sardana had joined Aaj Tak in 2017 after he left Zee News. He had hosted 'Taal Thok Ke', a popular debate programme that discusses contemporary issues in India on Zee News. Sardana left Zee News to join Aaj Tak in 2017 and, since then, he was hosting the debate show 'Dangal’, according to Indian media reports.
The unabated rise of cases in what is being termed India’s ‘Second Wave’ has been the worst for journalists as well, with 52 deaths reported in just the last 28 days alone, according to a news report published by News18. This implies that on average, two journalists have died every day this month.
According to a study conducted by the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies, as many as 101 journalists succumbed to COVID-19 between 1 April 2020 and 28 April 2021. Additionally, over 50 journalists have passed away due to COVID-related complications since January 2021, according to a report published by Firstpost.
The study, which was conducted by Rate The Debate, an initiative of the Institute of Perception Studies, New Delhi, found that 56 journalists have succumbed to the virus in the last four months this year, from 1 January to 28 April. As many as 52 of these deaths were reported in the month of April alone.
