Guwahati: Senior journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder, who was arrested earlier on Wednesday, has been granted bail in one of the cases filed against him, sources confirmed.
Mozumder was presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court in Guwahati the same day.
The scribe was arrested on Wednesday, for questioning the Managing Director (MD) of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank amid a protest about alleged financial irregularities.
The protest, led by the Assam Jatiya Parishad’s youth wing, Jatiya Yuva Shakti (JYS), took place in front of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd.
Additionally, the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has strongly condemned the arrest of journalist Dilwar Hussain Mazumdar, accusing the BJP-led government of fabricating false charges under sensitive laws to suppress dissent.
AJP President Lurinjyoti Gogoi and General Secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, in a press release, stated, “By arresting a journalist on duty and falsely implicating him under stringent laws, Himanta Biswa Sarma has committed a historic blunder. The police misused the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to frame false charges against him. However, the court found no evidence against the journalist, leading to his bail. This is a positive development, but the manner in which the government attempted to criminalize him under a sensitive law is alarming. It exposes a deeper conspiracy to incite ethnic conflicts in the state.”
The AJP leaders further alleged that the BJP government is manipulating the SC/ST Atrocities Act for political suppression rather than protecting marginalised communities.
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They criticised the Assam Police, stating, “This is yet another instance of the government using the police force as a political tool to serve its agenda. Arresting an innocent journalist only exposes the dictatorial nature of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s regime.”
Calling it a direct attack on press freedom, Gogoi and Bhuyan said, “This incident has united journalists across Assam. Many in the media industry were already dissatisfied with BJP’s fascist rule, but this arrest has ignited an unprecedented wave of resistance. Despite government pressure on media owners, journalists have found their voice against this oppressive government.”
The AJP urged all social, ethnic, and opposition groups to stand in solidarity with journalists and actively participate in this movement, which they termed an “historic awakening against authoritarian rule.”
