Lawfare – National Security (Journalists)

Continuing its vindictive action against journalists, the Assam police on Thursday registered an FIR against Delhi-based journalist Abhisar Sharma under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including section 152.

The FIR is based on a complaint filed by a Guwahati resident, one Alok Baruah, over a video where Sharma refers to Guwahati high court judge Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi’s searing remarks on the Assam government’s tribal land transfer to a private company. Sharma also criticises Assam chief minister Hemant Biswa Sarma in the video, accusing him of relying on communal hate and violence to further his politics.

In the video, posted on Sharma’s YouTube channel on August 18, Sharma says, “When the [chief minister] spreads poison and talks about Hindu-Muslim, it distracts the public from issues like these.”