The Axom Nagarik Sanmilan (ANS), a citizens’ group in Assam, on Monday accused the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government of resorting to “deeply disturbing and undemocratic actions that raised grave concerns” before and after the April 9 Assembly elections.
Addressing a media conference at the Guwahati Press Club, the group cited three recent instances to substantiate its claim. This is the second time since April 8 that the ANS has questioned the government’s actions.
In a statement released after the news meet, the ANS said that though the single-phase election was “largely” peaceful, “the ruling party, especially chief minister Sarma, has resorted to deeply disturbing and undemocratic actions that raise grave concerns”.
The ANS referred to the April 5 news conferences by Congress leader Pawan Khera levelling “serious allegations” against Sarma and his close family members, but said that “instead of rebutting the charges with concrete evidence or approaching the courts for legal remedy, the chief minister unleashed Assam police across Delhi and other places to hunt down Khera”.
“This is utterly unacceptable. A person holding high office must respond to allegations with facts, pursue defamation if malicious, or allow impartial investigation by the authorities — not deploy the police to intimidate and silence the accuser, particularly during an ongoing election process. The chief minister has no authority to direct such partisan action. The selective misuse of police power is equally blatant elsewhere,” the ANS said.
The statement, signed by prominent Guwahati-based citizens including Hiren Gohain, Harekrishna Deka, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Paresh Malakar, Abdul Mannan and Santanu Borthakur, also flagged a complaint lodged by Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) candidate from Guwahati Central, Kunki Chowdhury, at Panbazar police station over “defamatory AI-generated deepfake videos targeting her and her family, including her mother”.
It alleged that “no action has been taken on her complaint till date”.
“In a sharp and condemnable contrast, her social media in-charge was picked up by police in the dead of night, and yesterday Kunki Chowdhury herself was summoned to Panbazar police station in connection with an election-related case (violation of model code of conduct),” the ANS said. Chowdhury has denied the charges.
The group also flagged the April 10 police raid at the residence of AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi, a day after the polls that recorded a turnout of 85.96 per cent.
“We have also witnessed the chief minister brazenly threatening select media houses merely for criticising him. The Axom Nagarik Sanmilan strongly condemns this authoritarian attitude. Speaking truth to power is the sacred duty of the media — the fourth pillar of democracy. Such high-handed intimidation strikes at the very root of democratic norms,” the ANS said.
The group demanded “eternal vigilance” to ensure zero interference and absolute fairness during the counting of votes on May 4.
Though the state government or the chief minister is yet to react to the ANS claims, Sarma has previously been critical of the ANS and Hiren Gohain.
The Guwahati Press Club had on Saturday staged a protest over the alleged ill-treatment of journalists by the ruling class and decided to seek remedial measures from President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Election Commission of India, the state chief secretary and the DGP, among others.