Journalist Abhisar Sharma calls FIR by Guwahati police “baseless,” vows legal response

Guwahati, Aug 22: Journalist and YouTuber Abhisar Sharma on Thursday dismissed as “completely baseless” the FIR lodged against him by Guwahati Police and asserted that he will respond to it through legal means.

The city police’s crime branch filed the FIR based on a video uploaded by Sharma, which allegedly ridiculed both the Assam and Union governments and promoted religious enmity, a senior police official said.

Taking to micro blogging site, Sharma wrote: “The FIR filed against me by @assampolice is completely baseless. It will be responded to legally!”

Defending the content of his video, Sharma said, “In my show, I had mentioned the statement of an Assam judge, where he referred to the state government giving 3,000 bighas of land to Mahabal Cement, and I criticised it. I also highlighted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s communal politics with facts — based on his own statements.” He also shared the link to the video in question.

The FIR invoked Sections 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India), 196 (promoting enmity between groups on religious or other grounds), and 197 (assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. These provisions replaced sections of the Indian Penal Code, including the sedition law.

The complaint was filed by Alok Baruah, a 23-year-old resident of Nayanpur, Ganeshguri, who alleged that Sharma’s remarks on the Assam chief minister and his criticism of the Ram Rajya principle were made with “mala fide intent to disrepute the duly elected Union and Assam governments.”

This development comes close on the heels of Guwahati Police summoning senior journalists Siddharth Vardarajan and Karan Thapar in separate cases registered under the same provisions of the BNS. They were asked to appear before authorities on August 22.

- PTI