GUWAHATI, July 12: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) held a high-stakes media convention on Saturday in Guwahati, marking a renewed push to strengthen its communications machinery and reaffirm its commitment to defending press freedom in the face of what it described as growing threats under the BJP-led government.
Addressing the convention at the Manabendra Complex in Dispur, APCC president and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, accused the BJP of systematically targeting journalists and weakening democratic institutions in Assam.
“In these challenging times, when the BJP is relentlessly attacking the pillars of democracy, including the press, it is our duty to stand by journalists, regardless of whether their reporting favours us,” said Gogoi. He called on Congress spokespersons across Assam to actively support media professionals facing harassment and intimidation.
The convention follows a string of incidents where journalists in the state have allegedly been threatened, insulted, or arrested for their work. Gogoi cited the June 2025 controversy involving BJP Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, who publicly insulted a journalist as a “lower-class person,” triggering widespread outrage and demands for a formal apology.
He also highlighted the arrest and re-arrest of journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumdar in March 2025, describing it as a “clear attempt to silence dissent.” Gogoi alleged that under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state has cultivated a hostile environment for the media, with patterns of online abuse, police surveillance, and religiously targeted intimidation becoming alarmingly routine.
“These actions, including the Chief Minister’s own dismissive behaviour toward critical media, are nothing short of an assault on the constitutional right to free expression,” said Gogoi. “The Congress will resist these authoritarian tactics with full force. A strong, independent press is non-negotiable in any functioning democracy.”
The media convention was not just about raising alarms—it was a call to action. Gogoi instructed newly appointed Congress spokespersons to build grassroots-level media teams that will operate in villages, booths, and rural areas across the state. Their role, he said, will be to expose corruption, amplify local issues, and counter the BJP’s narrative leading into the 2026 Assembly elections.
The event was attended by several senior Congress leaders, including Assam Media Incharge Charan Singh Sapra and AICC representatives Harshad Sharma, Onika Mehrotra, Nighat Abbas, and Rashmi Miglani. Their presence signaled the party’s strategic focus on media engagement and narrative-building in the Northeast.
The convention marks a crucial step in the APCC’s election preparations, with a focus on strengthening its outreach, protecting press freedom, and pushing back against what it calls the “misinformation-driven governance” of the BJP.
