Assam protests MP Ajmal's threat to journalist

Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Dhubri MP and chief of All India United Democratic Front. DH Photo/ Manash Das

Assam erupted in protests on Thursday against MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal's threat and attempt to attack a TV journalist during a press conference on Wednesday.

Ajmal lost his cool, threw his microphone and tried to attack him after the reporter Kabir Mandal had asked him if All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the party he heads would go with BJP or Congress at the Centre.

"I will break your head, the son of a bitch. Go away...dog," Ajmal angrily shouted as he got up as soon as the TV reporter posed the question at Hatsingimari in South Salmara-Mancachar district in western Assam. The district falls under Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency, from where Ajmal has been elected twice. The video was aired by local television channels and went viral in social media platforms.

The AIUDF had won in three of 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam in 2014 and bagged 13 Assembly seats in 2016. But the party is fearing poor show in the next Lok Sabha polls in view of BJP's surge since it formed the government with two other regional parties -- Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland Peoples Front.

Journalists in Guwahati and parts of Assam covered their mouths with black badges and staged protests against Ajmal's attempt to attack the reporter and the abuse publicly.

"It is a matter of shame for a lawmaker in the world’s largest democracy who could not digest a question in a formal press conference. If the question was not comfortable for Ajmal, he could have simply avoided it. But his aggressive reaction to the scribes was unacceptable,” Journalists Forum, Assam said in a statement.

Members of All Assam Student' Union and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad, who staged protests by burning Ajmal's effigies, said the attack displayed his growing political frustration ahead of next Lok Sabha polls.