“Dear media, I am not amongst those who will keep quiet and take all you slander and libel.”

The above words are not mine. They come from the 2013-batch Assam Civil Service officer, Ramanuj Hazarika, who was also the election officer and executive magistrate of Assam’s Dhemaji district. He recently resigned from his post to try for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil service examination.

These days, everyone falls into the trap of media trials even if they haven’t done anything wrong. The media draws conclusions too early about any problem. A section of the Assamese media is usually criticised because they publish news without verifying them twice: a clear lack of journalistic ethics.

Ramanuj, on November 23, 2017, resigned from the service because of his aspirations for UPSC. Resigning from service is always a personal decision, and Ramanuj’s decision clearly indicates that he wanted to try for better opportunities. However, he is being trapped by some media organisations in their cheap media trials, through the allegation that he resigned to evade from the ongoing investigation in Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) cash-for-job scam.