Home Ministry asks Assam Government to take action against media personalities after RSS complaint

Guwahati, April 19, 2019:

The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Assam government to act against four journalists from the state on the basis of a complaint filed by the Legal Rights Observatory, a “voluntary organization” linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

In a letter dated April 16, an undersecretary in the ministry wrote to the heads of Assam’s home and political departments and police, enclosing the complaint filed by Vinay Joshi, convener of the Maharashtra-based organization.

The complaint accuses five prominent journalists of Assam and the organizations associated with them of exploiting the issue over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

The complaint name an Assamese newspaper, ‘Axomiya Pratidin’, three news channels (Pratidin Time, Prag News, and ‘News 18 Assamese TV channel’, as well as InsideNE.

The editors of Pratidin Time, Prag News, and InsideNE – Nitumoni Saikia, Ajit Bhuyan, and Afrida Hussain – have also been named in the complaint. Moreover, prominent journalist Manjit Mahanta has also been named in the complaint.

In reaction to this complaint, the Editor of InsideNE Afrida Hussain says: “I am a victim of witch hunting..it seems I am being made a victim of witch hunting by the people who have tried to influence me and my independent  and impartial journalism and since I have refused to budge before any such influences, therefore they have come with such arm-twisting tactics against me to harass and torture me mentally and physically. But, they forget before they bury me that I am the seed who will grow after being buried. And I welcome any investigation and am ready to cooperate at each and every level and I am sure and confident that at the end of the day, the truth shall prevail.”

It may be mentioned that the ruling administration’s attempts to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to make it easier for non-Muslim migrants from neighboring countries to gain Indian citizenship, created a situation of unrest all over the NorthEast region.