On August 10, senior Indian journalist Jose Kalathil received the Sargapeedam 2023 award. Kalathil, a Delhi-based journalist, has decades of experience working in India and abroad.
The Sargapeedam 2023 award, presented by the Elias Club and the Chavara Thinkers Forum in the southern Indian state of Kerala, recognizes Kalathil’s four decades of journalism in defense of democratic values and human rights.
The Elias Club and Chavara Thinkers Forum are named after Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805–1871), a renowned Indian social reformer, Catholic priest, and educator from Kerala.
Kalathil received the award in the form of a plaque from Fr. Thomas Kallukalam, former director of Chavara Bhavan, at a ceremony held at Rotary Park Hall, Darshanapuram, Alleppey. He thanked both organizations for the honor, noting the special significance of being born in Kainakary, the same place as Saint Chavara, now a well-known pilgrimage site in Kerala.
Kalathil studied at St. Berchmans College, Changanassery, one of the first autonomous colleges in Kerala, and earned a diploma in journalism from the De Sales School in Delhi.
He began his career at Jayaprakash Narayan’s Everyman’s News Weekly. After the closure of the newspaper Motherland, where he worked during India’s Emergency period, he pursued higher studies in the Philippines, Israel, and Taiwan.
Over the years, Kalathil has worked with several leading publications, including National Herald, Hindustan Times, Observer of Business and Politics, The Himalayan Times, and The Statesman.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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