Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi charged the national and local media with attempting to project the state as ?chauvinistic? during the coverage of the Adivasi-public clash here last week, while terming the attack on a tribal girl as ‘shameful’.
“The media should show responsibility. I don’t know what procedures you are asked to follow. If you are not responsible as media then, ofcourse, I have nothing to say,” Gogoi said.
“The attempt to project Assam as chauvinistic is most condemnable. Though the local and national media attempted to do so, but I am happy they have not been successful,” he said.
“The media showed only one side of the November 24 violence with a particular TV channel showing only one side…I will take it up with them. The media has to be restrained in such a situation. They have to verify before giving news,” the chief minister said.
“The truth is in Assam a large number of people from outside have been living for generations and the local people have accepted them and they are living in harmony,” Gogoi pointed out.
When the journalists stated that no officials were available for verifying the facts and the exact death toll in the clash, Gogoi said, “Government machinery may try to hide or have no access to information immediately. In such a situation, there should be extreme restraint, otherwise the situation may flare up and create communal violence.”
