Opposition MPs slam Assam Police's 'harassment' of Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar

New Delhi, Aug 21 (PTI) A group of opposition MPs on Thursday expressed concern over Assam Police's alleged "harassment" of senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar, and demanded immediate withdrawal of "malafide cases" against them.

The MPs, including Congress' Jairam Ramesh, CPI(M)'s John Brittas and Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, alleged that the BJP government in Assam is "misusing rebranded sedition laws" to intimidate independent voices and silence criticism.

The Guwahati Police has summoned senior journalists Varadarajan and 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.

A joint statement issued by the opposition MPs said, "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 BNS to file multiple criminal cases against them, which carry the threat of life imprisonment." "The summons to journalists 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 for an end to use of Section 152 against the media," the MPs said.

Besides Ramesh, Brittas and Yadav, the statement was signed by the likes of Mukul Wasnik, Shaktisinh Gohil, Syed Naseer Hussain, Renuka Chiwdhury, Javed Ali Khan, A A Rahim, Anil Kumar Yadav, V Sivadasan and R Girirajan.

The Editors Guild of India has also expressed deep concern over the summoning of Varadarajan and Thapar, and urged Assam Police to refrain from actions that could cast even the slightest doubt on their true intent.

The identical summonses stated, "It is revealed that there are reasonable grounds to question you to ascertain the facts and circumstances from you, in relation to the present investigation." The police have not shared any information about the case. Repeated calls made to senior police officers to know about the case remained unanswered.

While Varadarajan's summons was received on August 14, Thapar got it on Monday.

"Failure to attend/comply with the terms of this notice can render you liable for arrest," the summons added.

Section 152 of BNS addresses acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. It effectively replaced Section 124A of the IPC, which was put on hold by the Supreme Court in May 2022. PTI ASK ARI