It may be noted that hundreds of Assam government officials were arrested on corruption charges soon after the Bhartiya Janata Party led government took power at Dispur by May 2016 under the leadership of Sarbananda Sonowal, who maintains in his repeated public statements that the authority would not compromise with any kind of corruptions.
Even Hazarika also supported the crusade against corruption and insisted on a free and fair investigation process to unearth the truth in the APSC scam. In his Facebook statement, he even proposed for a special investigation team (SIT) under the supervision of the Supreme
Court to proceed further on identifying the corrupt practices. He also did not forget to mention about his bright academic career since his childhood in his statement. According to his own declaration, Hazarika was nurtured by his mother (a teacher by profession) after his father’s untimely demise and passed the 10+2 standard examinations with the first ten positions in the State. He cleared the graduation in Political Science from Hindu College under
Delhi University and completed his Master’s and M Phil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Expressing angers over the media, Hazarika stated that he would approach the court against the speculative and defamatory news items soon after consultations with his friends from the legal fraternity. Proclaimed that he had no respect for the media because of all cheap contents that turned the media outlets into circus groups, Hazarika also dared to prove him guilty (in APSC cash for job scam). Nevertheless Hazarika asserted that he would not leave the State to evade police actions.
The northeast Indian State of Assam today supports over 25 morning daily newspapers with six satellite news channels and few FM radio outlets catering the rational need of regional news contents for millions of reader-audience-viewers. The electronic media reached to
the alienated region two decades back, but the print journalism has a history of over 170 years in Assam.
“There is nothing unusual in resigning from a job anytime and hence the local media should have reported the matter judiciously,” said Rupam Barua, a senior journalist and president of Journalists’ Forum Assam. He however admitted that the reaction of Hazarika over the
development was over voluminous.
Appreciating Hazarika for his brave statement, Barua pointed out that a meritorious (read carrying good marks in examinations) certificate does not always ensure that the particular individual remains honest all along his/her life or be a good human being to contribute substantially for the society and the nation. Only the combination of both merit and honesty makes a man all time great, affirmed Barua. Meanwhile, urging the news channels to restrain over reporting on sensitive issues, the Electronic Media Forum Assam expressed dismay at
the way Hazarika slammed the media as a whole. The forum in a statement argued that the investigation process to identify all the tainted State civil service officers is still on and hence he ‘should wait for the logical (legal) conclusion of APSC cash for job scam’ before launching a crusade against the media.
Nava Thakuria
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
