News Analysis India

Tag: Pijush Hazarika

  • Assam minister, who threatened two journalists, asked to appear before police

    By PTI
    MORIGAON: Assam minister Pijush Hazarika, who allegedly threatened two journalists of dire consequences, has been issued a notice to appear before police and his call recordings have been sent to forensic lab for examination, officials said on Saturday.

    Two FIRs filed at Jagiroad police station by the scribes have been merged, and Hazarika has been booked under Sections 500 (defamation), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the IPC.

    The minister, who is contesting from the Jagiroad constituency where polling took place in the second phase on Thursday, had allegedly threatened the two journalists for reporting about a controversial campaign speech by his wife.

    “The statements of the journalists were recorded and a notice was issued to the minister in connection with the case. He has been asked to come to Jagiroad PS for recording his statement,” Morigaon District Superintendent of Police Nanda Singh Borkala told PTI.

    Hazarika, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, said he will come to the police station on Sunday to give his statement, the SP said.

    Borkala said the mobile phones of the scribes and that of Hazarika have been seized and the voice recordings of the conversation sent to a forensic laboratory in Guwahati.

    “As per law and procedure, we will proceed in the case,” he added.

    In the FIR, the two journalists – Nazrul Islam and Tulsi Manta – of Assamese news channels claimed that Hazarika had threatened them with dire consequences at 1 pm on Thursday, when they were busy in poll coverage of the second phase in Morigaon district.

    Police have also provided personal security cover to both the journalists.

    Meanwhile, the IG (Law and Order) Deepak Kumar Kedia, who is the nodal officer of the state police for the ongoing Assam assembly elections, has sought a report from the district police on the case.

    Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora has also filed a complaint with the state’s chief electoral officer, demanding Hazarika’s disqualification from the polls.

    Other opposition parties like the AIUDF, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Dal, AASU, AJYCP and several social groups also called for immediate disqualification of Hazarika from the elections.

    The Gauhati Press Club (GPC) condemned the “act of intimidation” by Hazarika.

    In an audio clip telecast by an Assamese news channel on Thursday, the minister can be heard threatening the scribes of dragging them out of their homes and making them “vanish”.

    The minister also said in the telephonic conversation, which has now gone viral, that he was “sad” because the news was related to his wife Aimee Baruah, who while campaigning for her husband a few days ago had made a controversial comment on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

    Baruah, at a recent public meeting in Jagiroad, had reportedly said the people from the Bengali community will be thrown out of the country if the CAA is not implemented.

  • Assam minister threatens to ‘vanish’ scribe; Congress seeks cancellation of his candidature

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI/MORIGAON: An Assam minister allegedly threatened to “vanish” two journalists of separate news channels for reporting a controversial poll speech of his wife, prompting the Congress to demand that his candidature for the assembly election be cancelled.

    A complaint has been filed by one of the journalists at Jagiroad police station in Morigaon district against Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Pijush Hazarika, but an FIR is yet to be registered, police said.

    In an audio clip telecast by Assamese news channel Pratidin Time, Hazarika was heard talking to journalist Nazrul Islam and, during the conversation, the minister threatened him and another scribe, Tulsi, to drag them out of their homes and “vanish” them.

    The BJP candidate said in the phone conversation, which has now gone viral, that he was “sad” because they reported the controversial statement of his wife Aimee Baruah made at a poll meeting a few days ago in Jagiroad, the constituency of her husband.

    In a viral video, Baruah was seen stating at the meeting that those not accepting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be thrown out of the country.

    The objective of the CAA is to grant Indian citizenship to people of minority communities Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who had come to India till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in these countries.

    The state witnessed violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019 and five persons lost their lives.

    The protestors saw the law as a threat to their cultural identity and livelihood.

    In a memorandum to the Assam’s chief electoral officer, state Congress president Ripun Bora said, “Pijush Hazarika has found to have threatened a reporter with dire consequences for showing a video of his wife recorded during her election campaign in Jagiroad.”

    During the call, the BJP candidate stated that Islam should get ready to face the consequences for showing his wife’s news and the channel cannot save him, Bora alleged in the memorandum.

    “He also warned Nazrul Islam allegedly for doing ‘Miya Politics’ to support Congress and ‘Aajmal Party’ i. e. AIUDF and threatened him that he will spoil Nazrul Islam’s life,” it read.

    The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by Badruddin Ajmal is a constituent of the Congress-led Grand Alliance.

    The incident has put the democracy of the state under “serious threat” and the public are now under want of protection from such threats, the memorandum claimed.

    “That apart, the words ‘Miya Politics’, ‘Aajmal Party’ etc uttered. in the said call has directly aggravated the existing differences between the communities of the state and has created mutual hatred between them,” Bora said.

    The contents of the conversation by Hazarika clearly violated the Model Code of Conduct, and laws such as the Representation of People Act, 1951 he added.

    “Under such circumstances, I pray before your honour to take prompt and necessary action against Pijush Hazarika to disqualify his candidature from the present General Assembly Election and issue directions for filing FIR/Complaint against him,” Bora said.

    The Gauhati Press Club (GPC) also condemned the “act of intimidation in the strongest words” and said that it is very unbecoming of a public representative to threaten a journalist of dire consequences.

    The GPC also demanded that the safety and security of the journalists concerned should be ensured by the Election Commission and the state government.