No probe has been ordered against four 'Assam voices', says Home Ministry

Guwahati, April 19, 2019:

The Home Ministry has reacted to the allegations that an inquiry has been initiated against four prominent journalists from Assam - Manjit Mahanta, Afrida Hussain, Ajit Bhuyan, and Nitumoni Saikia - after a complaint was filed by an RSS-linked individual. A statement issued by the Ministry claims that "this is absolutely baseless and a mischievous interpretation of the facts."

"This is to clarify that Union Home Ministry has not asked the State Government of Assam to initiate any enquiry against any Editor or any member of the press/media", read the communique.

The statement further stated: "The Ministry has stated that one Vinay Joshi with the address of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra sent a public grievance petition to the MHA on the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) on February 14, 2019, related to the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 stating that the issue has been exploited by different militant groups like United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and the media has propagated militant ideology to give fresh boost to the militant groups."

The Ministry further stated that "every such petition is routinely forwarded to the Ministries/States concerned."

"Following this standard practice, the petition of Vinay Joshi was routinely forwarded to the Government of Assam. No inquiry of any kind has been ordered by the Ministry. No report has been called from the Government of Assam in the matter", the Ministry confirmed.