NEW DELHI, Jan 13 - In a surprise move, the Assam government on Monday barred entry of journalists into Assam Bhawan premises.
Journalists working for Assam-based media had gone there to cover a scheduled media interaction with the chairman and members of the high-level committee for implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
An embarrassed chairman of the committee, Justice (retd) Biplab Sharma, later had to walk out of the Assam Bhawan premises to interact with the media on the road.
Assam Bhawan officials, when contacted, said the orders came from Principal Resident Commissioner and accordingly, the Assam Police battalion was instructed to bar entry of media persons into the premises of the State guest house. They claimed that it was done on the basis of orders from Assam.
On Sunday, a similar incident took place when former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was prevented from holding a media interaction, forcing him to call off the event at the last hour.
Meanwhile, the North East Media Forum has condemned the action of the Assam Bhawan authorities and questioned how they could ban entry into a public guest house.
