Press organisations and Opposition leaders have joined hands to condemn Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for rebuffing a Muslim journalist, who asked him questions at a press conference, with a communal remark.
Senior politicians as well as press and civil society organisations in Assam said Sarma’s comment was unacceptable and that he unnecessarily dragged the religious identity of the journalist into the conversation. Sarma has a long history of making communal remarks.
At a press interaction in Guwahati on August 21, Shah Alam, a journalist with local media organisation Newz Now, asked the chief minister about concerns about urbanisation-drive deforestation and the destruction of hills in Mandakata, on the outskirts of Guwahati, in Sarma’s Jalukbari Assembly constituency.
In response, Sarma asked Alam his name and insinuated that he was associated with Mahbubul Haque, the owner of University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya. On August 13, Sarma had accused the university of “flood jihad”, by destroying hills in a neighbouring district in Meghalaya that resulted in flash floods in Guwahati early in August.
“I would like to question Shah Alam and Mahbubul Haque, whether they will allow us to live in Assam,” Sarma said, alluding to the Hindutva panic over a “demographic change” in Assam’s population where Muslims of Bangladeshi origin will end up outnumbering indigenous Assamese populations.
Sarma also claimed that the university had “coached” Alam to ask questions about Mandakata and had “poisoned his mind”.
Alam in a post on Facebook said Sarma’s targeting him based on his religion had insulted and hurt him. “Yes, my name is Shah Alam…Assamese is my first identity,” wrote Alam. “The way you have attacked me in name, you have hurt my dignity.”
The Gauhati Press Club released a statement expressing solidarity with Alam. “The honorable chief minister pulled the religious identity of a journalist into context without any apparent relevance,” read the statement. It urged political leaders to ensure that such instances do not recur and to treat the media with dignity.
The Press Club of India, Delhi, endorsed the statement by the Gauhati Press Club.
The Journalists Union of Assam joined other press organisations in condemning Sarma’s remarks. In a statement in Assamese, it said Sarma’s comments were unfortunate and that he had personally insulted Alam by dragging his religious identity into a professional context. “The chief minister has lowered the constitutional status of his post,” said the union. “Moreover, journalists’ right to ask questions has been denied.”
Durba Ghosh, president of the newly formed Assam Women Journalists’ Forum, released a public statement emphasising that it is the duty of a journalist to ask questions.
Prominent civil society organisation Assam Nagrik Society condemned Sarma, saying that chief minister, holding a constitutional position, had made a “communal and divisive” statement that should be condemned by everyone.
Bhupen Kumar Borah, president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, tweeted in support of Shah Alam, asking Sarma, “How low will you fall, how low?”
Jairam Ramesh, Congress parliamentarian, wrote on X that Sarma’s behavior was “unacceptable and condemnable”.
Gaurav Gogoi, Congress Lok Sabha member from Jorhat, tweeted asking Sarma to learn from the Marwari community in Assam and issue a public statement of apology.
A 17-year old girl was assaulted in Assam’s Sivasagar earlier in August. Since the suspect hailed from the Marwari community, members from the community had apologised by publicly kneeling down in front of a state cabinet minister.
However, Pijush Hazarika of the Bharatiya Janata Party and an Assam legislator, pointed out that during the Lok Sabha campaigning, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had asked a journalist his caste.
In February, Gandhi, at a rally in Raebareli, had asked an India News journalist his name as well as the name of the TV channel’s owner. “Is he Dalit? No. Is he OBC [other backward class]? No,” Gandhi had said.
Newz Now, the channel where Alam works, responded to Hazarika’s post asking the minister to focus on the matter at hand and not use “one wrong” to justify another wrong.