{"id":12616,"date":"2024-08-22T14:05:42","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T14:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/khabarok.com\/elections-2024\/12616\/"},"modified":"2024-08-22T14:05:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T14:05:42","slug":"sick-mind-and-a-loud-mouth-says-congress-slamming-assam-cm-himanta-biswa-sarma-for-targeting-muslim-scribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/khabarok.com\/?p=12616","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sick mind and a loud mouth\u2026,\u2019 says Congress slamming Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for \u2018targeting\u2019 Muslim scribe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Congress party on Thursday slammed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly targeting a journalist\u2019s religious identity in response to his question on flattening hills in the State. The party called Sarma’s comments \u2018unacceptable and condemnable.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cA sick mind and a loud mouth are a toxic combination,\u201d Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, sharing a report about media bodies of Guwahati criticising the chief minister for allegedly targeting a scribe’s religious identity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What the Assam CM said is unacceptable and condemnable. A sick mind and a loud mouth are a toxic combination https:\/\/t.co\/5EZgL8nhMB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 22, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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Sarma had on August 21 targeted a reporter for his Muslim identity after he asked the BJP leader about hills allegedly being cut in Mandakata in the chief minister’s Jalukbari Assembly constituency<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sarma was speaking to reporters about his earlier allegations against Mahbubul Hoque, the chancellor of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya, for causing flash floods in Guwahati because of deforestation to build the institution\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sarma had targeted the university, saying that its gates are like Mecca\u2013 the holiest site of Islam in Saudi Arabia\u2013 and that his BJP government would move the National Green Tribunal(NGT) against the university.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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USTM, a private university established in 2008, is promoted by the Education Research and Development Foundation, founded by Mahbubul Hoque, a Muslim of Bengali-origin from Assam\u2019s Karimganj district in the Barak Valley.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The journalist had asked Sarma a question \u2013 in the context of USTM \u2013 that what about hills being cut in his own constituency. \u201cWhy are you equating USTM and Mandakata? Why are you all trying so hard to save USTM?\u201d Sarma responded asking the reporter his name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The journalist, who works at a local news website, introduced himself as Shah Alam. \u201cYou people Shah Alam and USTM\u2019s Mahbubul Hoque, the way you all have connected things, will we even survive? I would like to ask Shah Alam if we will even survive in Assam for long?\u201d Sarma said eliciting criticism from many journalist bodies in Assam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On August 22, the Journalist Association for Assam said in a statement on that Sarma\u2019s behaviour towards Alam was unacceptable. The body appealed to the chief minister not to repeat such comments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Gauhati Press Club also expressed concern over the increasing instances of political leaders’ \u2018disparaging responses\u2019 when journalists ask them questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n