Desi-demokrasy in action Rajen :-).
So where are its checks and balances?
At 9:56 PM -0500 6/6/05, Barua25 wrote:
O my God! What the hobo diok Assamese do now?
Hobo Diok.
Barua
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ram Sarangapani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Assam" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 6:13 PM
Subject: [Assam] Information blackout in Assam, IANS
Is this true? If so, then thats that for any kind of investigative
journalism in Assam.
__
Information blackout in Assam
Tuesday June 7 2005 00:00 IST
IANS
GUWAHATI: The Assam government has virtually blacked out information
to the media, with strict orders asking police and civil officials not
to speak unauthorisedly to journalists.
A formal notification has been issued to this effect, leading
opposition parties to accuse the Congress government of trying to hide
facts to shield rampant corruption in the state.
A middle-ranking bureaucrat was suspended last week after he gave an
interview to a local TV channel highlighting the need for more funds
to improve roads and other infrastructure.
"If all officials speak to the media, there is a fear that facts will
get distorted and so we have decided to impose restrictions in
accordance with existing service rules and guidelines," Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi said.
Today even senior police officials are scared to provide details of
any rebel-related incidents to journalists, fearing government action.
"Please do no quote me or else I will lose my job," a district police
chief told IANS when asked for some information relating to an
encounter with militants.
With assembly elections due early next year, the state government is
going all out to ensure that its image is not sullied by officials.
"We shall appoint nodal officers in each district to talk to the media
on any matters. He or she will be the sole official spokesperson for
that district," the chief minister said.
The worst affected is the media which is now depending on hearsay or
some bold officials who are speaking on conditions of anonymity.
Political parties have come down heavily on the ban on officials
interacting with the media.
"This is nothing but an attempt to conceal facts and the right to
information. It has exposed the government's wrong policies and
blatant corruption in all spheres of life," Dilip Saikia, general
secretary of the opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), told IANS.
"Today Assam is like a state under a military dictator who does not
trust anybody."
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