GUWAHATI: Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has condemned the petrol bomb attack on The Shillong TimesEditor Patricia Mukhim’s residence, terming it as an attack on the freedom of the Fourth Estate and an attempt to gag the media.
“The attack on The Shillong Times Editor Patricia Mukhim’s residence cannot be treated as an isolated incident. It is an attack on journalism and a clear attempt to gag the media, which is condemnable,” Gogoi told reporters at his Koinadhara residence here on Thursday.
Two unidentified persons on a two-wheeler had hurled a petrol bomb at Mukhim’s house in the Umpling area of Shillong on Tuesday evening, charring a portion of the wall beneath her bedroom window.
“The media will ask questions and should be allowed to express what needs to be done in a free manner. But unfortunately, this has not been the case not just here but across the country as well. Journalists can write in only one way or else they are targeted,” he said, obliquely referring to the number of journalists being attacked over the past couple of years in the country.
