Guwahati: A 29-year-old city-based Muslim reporter was at the receiving end of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s latest communal attack when he publically castigated the reporter and his (religious) ilk asking him whether he and his ilk will allow the (Hindu) Assamese community to strive, thrive, survive and live in Assam in the face of “the state’s demography change”.
Sarma on Wednesday, August 21, derided Shah Alam, the reporter, for his religious identity over a question about the razing and cutting of hills being reported from Sarma’s Jalukbari assembly constituency.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma rebuked a reporter over his religious identity after the reporter asked a question on hill cuttings in his constituency Jalukbari.
Sarma asked him whether they (Muslims) will allow them (Hindus) to live in Assam, citing “demographic change”. pic.twitter.com/Q0F4VXH1Pz
— Rokibuz Zaman (@ROKIBUZZAMAN2) August 22, 2024
This comes almost 16 days after his ‘flood-jihad’ jibe aimed at a Muslim proprietor of a private university located in neighbouring Meghalaya state.
Sarma’s latest communal salvo against Alam, reporter of a Guwahati-based local online news portal named Newz Now, has hit all the wrong chords with the state journalistic community.
The incident happened after a meeting on the Rajya Sabha nomination process was held at the Assam Legislative Assembly.
After the meeting, Sarma met with reporters outside the assembly answering questions about the major issues of the day when Shah Alam asked Sarma about constant news reports of incessant hill razing reported from Kamrup district.
Shah Alam.
Maintaining a calm composure Sarma began answering Alam’s question by stating that there is no connection between the reports of hill cutting from Mandakata (in Kamrup district) and ‘the deluge’ caused by the University of Science and Technology (USTM).
Sarma stressed that the two issues cannot be compared, reiterating his previous stance that USTM is “responsible for the city’s incessant flooding”.
Not stopping there Sarma then went on to deride Alam, first by asking him “why save USTM?”, and “is it related to advertising issues”.
He elaborated “that USTM has coached him (Alam) to ask the question about Mandakata”, and “has poisoned his mind”.
Sarma then began his communal rant by saying, “In this manner how will our (Hindu Assamese) community strive?”.
Alam at this point interrupted Sarma inferring the question about receding hill cover and losing green covers not only reported from Mandakata (within Sarma’s constituency) but from elsewhere as well.
Alam can be heard in the video footage emphasising that the issue has gathered momentum in news outlets.
He said it was just not Newz Now covering the issue but also other news channels and portals that were pursuing the hill-cutting reportage.
Sarma then retorted Alam by asking his name.
After Alam revealed his name, Sarma continued his communal diatribe by saying, “Oh! You people, like Shah Alam and USTM proprietor Mahbubul Hoque have all combined the issues that have become a big question for our Assamese community whether we can survive.”
Then folding his hands Sarma continued his sarcastic communal undertones, and said, “Shah Alam and the rest of the ilk should be asked whether we can live, strive and continue our existence. You people have combined all the issues together and this itself poses an important question whether people like me and others will be able to live in Assam. The issue is not about green cover, but the bigger issue is the demography change, and there should be a discussion about whether people like Shah Alam and Mahbubul Hoque will permit us to live here.”
Sarma was asked another question by a reporter on planned protests by the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) against him in New Delhi.
Sarma steadfastly said, “The number of protests by AAMSU against me is itself a certificate for me. History will remember me as a warrior who fought against AAMSU. It will be said that there was a chief minister who took AAMSU head-on and never surrendered. I want history to remember my name and want to etch my name in history as a man who fought till the last end.”
He then continued, “My job is to pass the Muslim Personal Law. Even if they (AAMSU) protest, let them protest. Even if they protest, the shops run by the Kazi will be shut. I am here.”
The Wire reached out to Shah Alam.
He expressed that the incident has left him shocked and surprised, and that it was totally out of the blue that a chief minister of Assam would castigate a journalist based on religious identity.
He also said he was baffled by the incident as his question was about incessant hill razing as reported from Sarma’s assembly constituency.
“I have been covering news about incessant hill cutting from various areas within Kamrup district. It was nothing new. There were other news reports done by other news outlets or portals. It was a jolt out of the blue. I never imagined that he would publicly deride me over my religious identity. There were many fellow reporters who told me after the incident that Sarma shouldn’t have said such things. I shared it on social media and got support from many,” said Alam who has been working as a reporter since 2013.
He then continued, “It was a question about hills losing their natural green covers on account of incessant hill cutting as reported from his constituency. Nowadays performing journalistic duties has become a bone of contention for many politicians. They only want news that they want to hear, and find it uncomfortable to answer difficult questions. I have never seen such incidents where a journalist was brought under a scanner of religious identity by a sitting chief minister of a state. I am shocked and surprised.”
Last month Alam was in the crosshairs of state BJP president Bhabesh Kalita when another colleague from Newz Now was covering purported news about dissent within the state BJP.
In the news report, Kalita is seen saying that the “door is open for dissatisfied party members”.
Alam told The Wire that he was not at all involved in the news report, and that Kalita was vague about the statement about whether the dissatisfied party members were shown the door or were it being left open for any discussions.
A few days after the news report an FIR was lodged against Alam for “spreading fake news” at Bashista Police Station by Jayanta Goswami, the state BJP legal-cell convener.
Interestingly the FIR stated that Alam was an editor of Newz Now instead of as a senior reporter.
“I am a senior reporter and not the editor. I spoke to some BJP sources who told me that my name was stated in the FIR as an editor because they know me as the only one from Newz Now. This is funny because it would take them only a few minutes to gather details about any reporter, and they didn’t feel like doing a proper fact check. The FIR was then not registered,” added Alam.
The Wire spoke to Kabul Saikia, proprietor and editor of Newz Now, who expressed support for Alam and his journalistic pursuits.
“It is really upsetting for a sitting chief minister to resort to such antics. Alam was only performing his journalistic responsibilities by asking difficult and poignant questions. On behalf of our news portal, we totally support Alam. A chief minister should maintain his neutral composure and not be biased against anyone based on religious lines,” said Saikia.
The barrage of condemnation over the incident soon followed.
The Gauhati Press Club expressed concern in a written statement.
It said, “In the latest case, the honourable chief minister pulled the religious identity of a journalist into context without any apparent relevance during a press interaction on August 21. The Gauhati Press Club expresses deep concern at such an incident. We urge all political leaders to ensure no recurrence of such instances in the future and show dignity to their position as well as the role of the media.”
The Assam state committee of the CPI (M) in a press statement condemned Sarma’s communal remarks against a Muslim reporter as an attempt to spread communal acrimony in the state.
The Youth Journalist Forum of Assam has severely condemned the incident.
