The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has written to the Assam government about a complaint that some journalists exploited the volatile period during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and propagated the ideology of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a banned militant outfit.
The journalists have termed it yet another attack on the freedom of the press.
In an April 16 letter addressed to the director general of police, Assam, and commissioner and secretary, (home and political), the MHA enclosed a complaint by one Vinay Joshi and directed the state officials to take “necessary action”. A senior police official said they have yet to receive a copy of the communication.
Joshi said he had worked with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) till 2009, after which he started a body called the Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) that complained to the MHA.
According to the complaint dated February 14, 2009, “since Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 started creating waves in North East India, many media houses based in Assam started exploiting the situation for their own benefit” and that the “defunct militant group ULFA has launched fresh recruitment drive in Assam by using media created unrest”.
The complaint named four journalists — Nitumoni Saikia, editor-in-chief of Pratidin Time, a news channel; Manjit Mahanta, associated with Asomiya Pratidin newspaper; Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, editor-in-chief of Prag News, a news channel; Afrida Hussain, editor-in-chief of InsideNE, a news portal — and “News 18 – Assamese news channel.”
Manjit Mahanta was among the three persons slapped with sedition charges by the Assam police in January when they organized a protest rally against the CAB.
The complaint said, “Aforesaid people…are directly broadcasting videos and propaganda material… to give a fresh boost to ULFA and other militant groups.”
Though the letter mentions ULFA, Joshi said he had meant United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent).
Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, one of the journalists openly opposing the CAB, said, “Did we propagate or tell people to join ULFA? I am not prepared to take dictation from them (RSS). It is yet another attack on the freedom of the press, to gag the media.”
Ashutosh Agnihotri, commissioner and secretary (home and political), Assam, said he has yet to receive a copy of the MHA letter.
First Published:
Apr 19, 2019 07:25 IST
Source: HindustanTimes