Govt clarifies on CM's interview row
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 17 2014:
Clarifying over the television interview of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi that received sharp reactions from some political parties and social organizations after it went viral on the social networking sites, the State Government has termed it as an attempt of some vested interests to malign the Chief Minister and create disharmony among the people by uploading a manipulated and truncated segment of a full interview.
According to a press statement issued by Secretary of Chief Minister of Manipur N Ashok Kumar, the State Government takes strong exception of the attempt to malign Chief Minister Okram Ibobi by uploading a manipulated and truncated segment of a recent interview given to ANI in the social media.
The interview given by the Chief Minister clearly outlined his serious views on the recent assaults on the people from the northeastern region.
He categorically condemned the act of assault in the interview.
The truncated version of the complete interview shows the Chief Minister's views in a distorted form, which has invited serious reactions.
Such a malicious act of uploading a distorted version is to mislead the people with a vested interest to create disharmony among the people.
The views expressed by the Chief Minister have been misrepresented with an attempt to tarnish his image.
Many individuals and political parties have reacted without viewing or studying the full interview.
It may be recalled that the Chief Minister was visiting the victim of sexual assault at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on February 10, the statement said.
It further mentioned that the Chief Minister terming criminal assaults as most unfortunate and condemned the recent incidents in the strongest terms.
He also emphasized that such reprehensible attacks on the people of the northeast region are to be condemned by the entire nation.
The Government is also looking for provisions to initiate official and legal proceedings with the social media existing on digital platform.
It may be recalled that the Chief Minister had earlier met Union Home Minister on February 9 to register his strong protest against the recent incidents of violence, sexual assault and molestation against the people of Northeast.
He had also handed over a letter to the Union Home Minister condemning the incidents and seeking stringent action against the culprits expeditiously, the statement added.