From a Correspondent
New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has clarified that it has not asked the Assam Government to initiate any enquiry against any editor or any member of the press and media.
“It has been reported in a section of media that Union Home Ministry has asked the Government of Assam to take action against the editors opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. This is absolutely baseless and a mischievous interpretation of the facts,” said a Home Ministry official on Friday.
The official further said that Vinay Joshi of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra sent a public grievance petition to the MHA on the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) on February 14 stating that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is being exploited by different militant groups like the ULFA, and the media propagate militant ideology to give fresh boost to militant groups.
“A very large number of such petitions and grievances on a host of issues are received in the Ministry on a daily basis on CPGRAMS. The annual figure of such petition is 33,000 for 2018. Every such petition is routinely forwarded to the Ministries and States concerned,” the official said. Following this standard practice, the petition of Vinay Joshi was routinely forwarded to the Government of Assam. “No inquiry of any kind has been ordered by the Ministry. No report has been called from the Government of Assam in the matter,” the official said.
“It is mischievous to suggest that the Central Government has asked the Government of Assam to initiate action against any editor or any media person in Assam. It is reiterated that it is standard practice to forward every petition received on CPGRAMS to the Ministry and State Government concerned," the official said..
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