New Delhi, Aug 21 (PTI) Several opposition MPs on Thursday issued a joint statement expressing concern over Assam Police summoning senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar in a sedition case, calling it a “blatant attack on press freedom and democracy”.
The joint statement signed by senior opposition leaders Jairam Ramesh (Congress), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), John Brittas (CPI-M), Ramgopal Yadav and Jaya Bachan (SP), among others, accused the BJP government in Assam of misusing sedition laws.
They also questioned the summons being sent even as the Supreme Court restrained Assam Police from taking any coercive action against Varadarajan in connection with an FIR lodged against him over an article on Operation Sindoor.
“We are extremely concerned by the Assam Police’s harassment of Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar and other journalists associated with The Wire, misusing Section 152 of the BNS to file multiple criminal cases against them, which carry the threat of life imprisonment,” the opposition MPs said in the statement.
“The summons to the journalists despite Supreme Court protection is a blatant attack on press freedom and democracy itself. The BJP government in Assam is misusing rebranded sedition laws to intimidate independent voices and silence criticism. We strongly condemn this and demand its withdrawal,” they said.
“We call upon the police to immediately withdraw these malafide cases, and end the use of Section 152 against the media,” they added.
The other signatories of the statement included Renuka Choudhary, Mukul Wasnik, Sakthisinh Gohil and Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress), Javed Ali Khan (SP), A A Rahim and V Sivadasan (CPI-M), and R Girirajan (DMK).
Guwahati Police has summoned Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar in connection with a case registered on sedition charges, according to the notices.
The two journalists have been asked to appear before the Crime Branch of Guwahati Police on August 22. PTI AO ARI
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