GUWAHATI, Mar 28: The Assam Women Journalists’ Forum (AWJF) has condemned the rearrest of senior journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder in a second case after he was granted bail in the first by a court here following his arrest on Tuesday midnight.
Mozumder, who is associated with a news portal, and also the assistant general secretary of the Gauhati Press Club, was rearrested on Thursday evening on charges of stealing valuable bank documents, in a case which the police claimed was filed by a bank official on March 25, the same day as the first case.
However, his family and lawyers were not informed about the second case.
The journalist was rearrested immediately after completing the surety amount and other formalities for his release, and whisked away to the police station.
“The AWJF is appalled at the turn of events and the harassment caused to the journalist who was on professional duty to cover a protest by a student wing of a political party,” the forum said in a statement issued on Friday.
The forum expressed concern at the attempts to shift attention away from the real issue – Mozumder’s rearrest and the harassment he faces – by defining who is considered a journalist.
“The AWJF is concerned that this narrative is being used to undermine journalists who might not fit into the government’s definition of a ‘legitimate journalist’, with some sections also attempting to malign certain journalists, including women,” it stated.
Extending solidarity to Mozumder, the forum called for immediate release of the journalist while demanding that the police cease to harass him and his family members.
It may be noted that prior to his initial arrest, Mozumder was detained for over nine hours by the police under Section 351(2) of the BNS for criminal intimidation or the act of threatening someone to harm them or force them to do something, read with several sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
