SHILLONG: The Shillong Press Club and the Journalist Union of Meghalaya have expressed their shock and anger at the use of foul language and unbecoming conduct of Daniel Thangkhiew, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) attached to the Chief Minister, against a reporter of The Shillong Times Afaque Hussain, with regards to an accident at Malki Point when it was believed that VVIPs were involved and that Mr Thangkhiew might be able to shed some light on the accident.
A statement issued by the Shillong Press Club said that Hussain was simply discharging his professional duties in the public interest, for which he was verbally attacked most viciously by Thangkhiew.
The statement further said that if no VVIP was involved then why should the police be in such a hurry to settle matters, when it occurred at midnight well after the promulgation of curfew? The fact that it occurred after midnight did not stop Thangkhiew from reportedly rushing to the scene even though he became agitated and then repeatedly berated Hussain for calling him at 11:30pm.
Neither an FIR nor even a GD entry was made with regards to the accident and the vehicle responsible for the crash was whisked away at record speed thanks, it has been reported, to the efforts of Thangkhiew and Deputy Superintendent of Police Walsall M Momin, who were personally present.
“Seemingly peeved that he should be questioned on the incident, Thangkhiew, who, we are sure, could have found within him a more polite way to handle the phone call from Mr Hussain, chose to insult him personally by calling him “cheap”, besides attacking the press, the cornerstone for accountability,” the statement added.
The press Club added that however, it did not end there, as Thangkhiew proceeded to end the said phone call with a string of verbal abuses and foul expletives, which is surely a new low in the political sphere of Meghalaya.
The Shillong Press Club dubbed the incident as an attempt to curtail press freedom.