"Over the years, the locals in Amolapatty's BB Road subway in Assam have been suffering a lot due to the poor road conditions, but they still hope that the new government and new MLA will take steps for improving the roads. I have been submitting applications over the time.." it was here when a retired teacher, who was speaking during a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan event in Assam's Nagaon on Tuesday, was made to abruptly cut short his speech after intervention by Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain. As soon as the 75-year-old teacher touched upon the condition of bad roads in the area, Gohain stood up from his chair and blocked the mike in front of the audience. The minister also rebuked the teacher in full public view in a video that has gone viral, leading to protests by students in the area. The protesters burnt effigies of Gohain in front of his house in Nagaon town and demaded an apology from the minister for humiliating the teacher. At an event in Nogaon, a teacher who was speaking on the poor condition of roads in his area was interrupted by Union Minister Rajen Gohain who said,'Why don't you talk about this with the concerned officer?You seem to have come here with a motive.Utter nonsense.' #Assam (7.5.18) pic.twitter.com/M7Z8Lpd16U — ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2018 The teacher was called upon to speak at the event as one of the senior citizens of Nagaon. "You can come with me to see the real condition of the roads, then you can decide if I am speaking the truth or not," he said. A visibly agitated Gohain interrupted the teacher asking, "Why are you raising such issues? What benefits are you trying to draw? You have come with an ill-motive." Gohain told the teacher that if he had any complaint, he should have approached him personally. "If you have any complaint you should have approached me personally and not in front of the public. What nonsense!" Gohain added. When the teacher tried to answer Gohain's question by taking the microphone, the minister blocked him again, saying, "Problems do not get solved by delivering speeches." The man then took a seat in a row behind where the minister was seating. However, Gohain walked up to him and was seen having an animated talk with the teacher. Later, when reporters asked the minister if he would apologise to the teacher following the widespread condemnation, Gohain shot back, "Why should I?"
