Journalists’ Unions to Protest in Delhi Over Assam Govt FIRs Against Senior Journos

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) have announced a joint protest march in Delhi on Wednesday, August 27, demanding that the Assam government withdraw cases against senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar, and Abhisar Sharma.

Members of both unions will march to the Assam Bhawan at Sardar Patel Marg in Delhi at 2 pm tomorrow, where they will stage a demonstration to press for their demands.

DUJ, KUWJ to protest demanding the Assam Government to drop cases against senior journalists on August 27 pic.twitter.com/qsAXg0uCxh

— Delhi Union of Journalists (@DUJ1949) August 26, 2025

It may be mentioned that on May 9, the first FIR (03/2025) was registered by Crime Branch, Guwahati against Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar under Sec 152 BNS and listing 14 interviews and articles as against the sovereignty and integrity of India.

Both Varadarajan and Thapar gave a similar response to the summons, stating that "The FIR is not accessible through the online portal of Assam Police. This suggests that the FIR has not been uploaded online, though the same is mandated by judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Youth Bar Association of India v Union of India, (2016) 9 SCC 473."

The Guwahati Crime Branch also filed an FIR against journalist and YouTuber Abhisar Sharma after a complaint alleged that he uploaded a video mocking both the Assam and Union governments. The case has been registered under Sections 152 (sedition), 196, and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).

According to the complaint filed by 23-year-old Alok Baruah of Nayanpur, Ganeshguri, Abhisar Sharma allegedly accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of pursuing communal politics and ridiculed the principle of Ram Rajya, claiming the government “survives only on Hindu-Muslim polarisation.”

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