Senior journalist R Mohan dies of cardiac arrest in Chennai; funeral to take place in Vellore today

Veteran journalist R Mohan, general secretary of the Madras Union of Journalists (MUJ), died of cardiac arrest in Chennai on Sunday, The Hindu reported. Mohan, 54, who was working with the Tamil daily Dinakaran, is survived by his wife and two children. His funeral will take place at Gudiyatham in Vellore district on Monday, the report added. [caption id=“attachment_4194973” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A screengrab of senior journalist R Mohan. Image courtesy: Youtube[/caption] The Hindu reported that several journalists paid homage to Mohan at the CSI Kalyani Hospital, where he passed away, as well as at the Chennai Press Club. Leaders cutting across party lines too condoled the death of the senior journalist. State minister D Jayakumar, Tamil Manila Congress leader GK Vasan and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan paid homage to Mohan. Mohan participated actively for protecting the rights of working journalists in Tamil Nadu. In 2009, he began his campaign against the “undemocratic” nature of journalist clubs in Chennai. In 2015, NewsMinute had quoted Mohan as saying, “For years the same group of people have been operating it, without elections. The club makes a lot of revenue from holding press conferences, running to several lakh rupees every month, where is all the money going?” Mohan had also condemned the killing of Gauri Lankesh and demanded the arrest and punishment of the murderers at the earliest to prevent such incidents in the future. In 2003, Mohan was at the forefront of the protest against the Tamil Nadu Assembly’s resolution against The Hindu banning its journalists from entering the House for 15 days.