GUWAHATI: An Assam MLA has been suspended from the State Assembly for three days with effect from Monday by Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami for going live on Facebook from the House. Aminul Islam, an All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) legislator and spokesperson, used his mobile phone to record and broadcast live his speech during the Assembly proceedings on February 3.
Islam admitted having flouted rules to “help people know about critical issues” discussed in the Assembly, but highlighted the amendment to the rules for live telecast of proceedings in the interest of people.
“I accept the Speaker’s ruling, for it was within his powers. It was an inadvertent error on my part. But I feel there should be live telecast of Assembly proceedings. People also want this,” Islam told the media on Monday.
Earlier, parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary had lodged a complaint after Islam’s video went viral on social media. Subsequently, the Speaker asked the Ethics Committee of the House to submit a report. The committee recommended the MLA’s suspension for the “gross misconduct”.
Tanka Bahadur Rai, the Speaker of the Assam House during the Congress regime, had given a ruling against the use of mobile phones in the Assembly.
In July last year, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann had live-streamed his arrival in Parliament on Facebook and posted a video of his experience, raising serious security concerns. The locations he filmed included the gate through which terrorists had entered the seat of power in 2001. The video clip included access to a room where questions are picked for the Zero Hour. He apparently continued filming despite a security guard asking him not to do so.
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