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Once the occupants left the house with
their hands raised, the armed men forced
Bhuyan to accompany them inside the house.
They searched and ransacked the entire
three-story building, which also houses the
offices of Bhuyan's newspaper. According to
Bhuyan, nothing was taken from the residence
or the office.
Bhuyan later told reporters that he felt
his life was in danger and that he was being
targeted because of his newspaper's criticism
of the Indian Army in Assam.. "I strongly
feel that the Army has become a constant
threat to the lives of honest Indian citizens
who have been speaking out for the oppressed
masses," he said.
After the raid, military authorities in
Assam faxed a letter to local newspapers
denying responsibility for the incident. "It
is likely that some people may be operating
in various places posing as Army personnel
and conducting 'raids'," the fax said. Bhuyan
was informed privately by local police
officials that they had no prior knowledge of
or involvement in the raid, despite laws that
require army units to be accompanied by local
police or magistrates on investigative
raids.
Bhuyan believes that those who
participated in the attack were soldiers
because they spoke Hindi, which is not the
local language, and because he recognized one
of the men as an army captain. Other than the
brief denial sent to the newspapers, no
official statements explaining the incident
have been made by police, military, or
governmental authorities.
As a well-known journalist in Assam,
Bhuyan's stinging attacks on the Indian army
and local corruption have frequently brought
him into conflict with the government. He was
arrested four times in 1997 under various
national security laws. He was arrested the
same year for complicity in the kidnapping
and murder of social activist Sanjay Ghosh.
In each instance, he was released and never
tried nor convicted of any crime.
The current attack on Bhuyan has a
chilling similarity to events prior to the
1996 murder of Assamese editor Parag Kumar
Das, with whom Bhuyan worked closely. Before
he was killed, Das had been repeatedly
charged with crimes for which he was never
tried and his home was raided by military
authorities. His murder remains unsolved.
As a nonpartisan organization dedicated to
the defense of our colleagues worldwide, the
Committee to Protect Journalists decries the
harassment of Bhuyan We fear that without
immediate intervention by higher authorities,
Bhuyan may be killed. We respectfully call on
Your Excellency to use the powers of your
office to launch an immediate investigation
into the raid on Bhuyan's home and office and
to make the findings of that investigation
public.
We look forward to your response.
Sincerely yours.
Ann K Cooper
Executive Director
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