Tripura journalist allegedly thrashed after Facebook post on Chief Minister

Guwahati: A Tripura journalist was allegedly thrashed by unknown miscreants moments after he criticized the Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for his comment on the state's media. Deb had recently said that strict action would be taken against media for publishing stories of the government's alleged mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis.

Parashar Biswas, the journalist in question, was recently discharged from hospital after recovering from the COVID-19 disease. He had made a video criticizing the Chief Minister for allegedly threatening journalists. Biswas made the video on Friday while he was still in the COVID-19 Care Centre.

Soon afterward, the video gained notoriety on social media, with some social media users criticizing him for his tone while addressing the Chief Minister Deb.

As per reports in the media, Biswas was beaten at his residence in Ambassa, the headquarters of Dhalai district, on Saturday night. The man sustained serious injuries, following which he had to be shifted to Agartala for treatment.

Meanwhile, Subal Dey, the editor of the Bengali language daily where Biswa works, has alleged a BJP hand in the attack. Talking to media, he said that it is fishy that Biswas was attacked within a day after the Chief Minister issued a threat against the media, and within 12 hours of his Facebook post.

The BJP, however, has denied the allegation and condemned the attack on the scribe. Tripura BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee said that police has started an investigation into the matter and if any political party members are involved, action will be taken.

This comes days after the state's Chief Minister Biplab Deb had criticized a section of the media for publishing stories of alleged mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, on the sidelines of a ceremony for a special economic zone in Sabroom on Friday.

Slamming the media, Deb said he would not "forgive" certain sections of media for their reporting during the crisis. He said that a few newspapers and journalists are getting "overexcited" and confusing the people of Tripura.

His comments have faced tremendous backlash from the journalist community and a forum called "Assembly of Journalists" asked the Chief Minister to withdraw his statement against a section of the media in the state.

"Within 24 hours of Chief Minister's public threat to newspapers, a journalist has been attacked, beaten brutally. This has led to a feeling of insecurity among journalists in the state," the Assembly of Journalists said in a recent statement.

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