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Assam Minister Faces Media Wrath 

Friday April 17, 2009, Nava Thakuria

Guwahati: Assam’s health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma is seemingly in troubles and this time from the media. Dr Sharma,  also the State government’s spokesperson is known as an intelligent and efficient leader, but many times, he speaks reckless. The latest controversy around him is amazing,  which on the other hand, provokes the media persons of Northeast to express concern at his irresponsible behavior.

Days back, Dr Sharma addressed a press meet at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati, where he distributed the call records of Hiranya Saikia, a PCG member,  to justify his claim that Saikia initiated an inherent electoral tie up among three opposition parties including Asom Gana Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party and Asom United Democratic Front to ensure the defeat of Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha polls.

Dr Sharma claimed that Saikia was in constant touch with many senior leaders of these parties in the last few days. Even after the AGP and the BJP had the formal electoral tie up this time, Dr Sharma asserted that they tried to achieve an inherent understanding with the AUDF, which is more a minority political party, with Saikia’s help.

The press conference was telecast live by a Guwahati based satellite channel News Live, where Dr Sharma specifically informed that he got the call details of Saikia’s personal phone from a ‘journalist friend’. The programme passed off coolly, but it aroused a pertinent debate among the media persons in Guwahati, whether a journalist has the ethical, moral and legal right to trace someone’s call list and submit it to a minister. 

Rajdeep Sardesai, the editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN and also the president of Editor’s Guild of India termed the exercise (of the journalist) as unethical. Similarly, DN Bezboruah, a senior journalist and the former president of Editor’s Guild commented in the same tune.

DN Chakrabarty, former editor of Dainik Asom has criticized the journalist as a black-sheep in the profession. “He should be condemned in strongest words. More over, the behaviour  of the minister was also equally unacceptable. The minister should not use a journalist for his vested interest,” Chakrabarty added.

Even two Bangladeshi editors expressed shock that a journalist can collect such private information and then submit it to a minister. Mustafa Kamal Majumder, editor of The New Nation, argues that if someone collects such information for exclusively journalistic purposes, that may be debated (and justified). But once it is sent to a minister, the said journalist has lost all moral values to continue engaging in the profession. Salah Uddin Choudhury, editor of Weekly Blitz also echoed the same concern that ‘how a journalist can compromise the minimum level of ethics of the profession (for some selfish gain)’!

Paritosh Mukhopadhyay, general secretary of  National Federation of Newspaper Employees, termed the act of the journalist as ‘immoral, unethical and illegal’. Speaking to this writer from Kolkata, Mukhopadhyay asserted that the journalist should be dragged in to the court under the press council laws. He also insisted that the issue must be brought to the notice of the Union Information and Broadcasting ministry and the PMO.

Meanwhile, the Journalists’ Forum, Assam has demanded to identify the journalist, who had submitted the mobile call list of an individual to the minister. In a statement, issued by JFA chief Rupam Baruah it said, “It is shocking that, a journalist can go for collecting someone’s call list, which is illegal in India, and even submit it to a minister ignoring the media ethics!”

The forum was critical to Dr Sharma as well, saying, “For the sack of argument, even if the call list was collected by the minister from a competent authority with all legal formalities, the JFA demands a public apology from Dr Sharma, as he tried his best to hurt the integrity of the journalists.

“A minister must not consider the media persons as his slaves, who may be used according to his choice. After all, a prominent minister like Sharma should behave with responsibilities and maintain minimum honour to the media,” the statement concluded.

The Sentinel, a leading English daily said in an editorial that Dr Sharma should ‘made it known as to how he could lay his hands on an individual’s private domain’ only just because he is a minister.

“---he has to explain as to why his act is not a violation of a 1997 Supreme Court ruling ---------that termed tapping of phones a violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. He has to also explain as to why his is not an encroachment on an individual’s  private space and freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution,” added in the editorial. It concluded with the question, ‘Has the Congress in Asom lost its balance to lead or be part of healthy and competitive politics? Or has absolute power corrupted the party absolutely?’

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