Implied threat to all media in NDTV case

The one-day ban imposed as punishment on NDTV India — the popular and respected Hindi channel of the NDTV group — offers the newest — and the most provocative — instance of the Modi government’s efforts at suppressing free expression in order to purvey the unwritten directive to all media to be pliant and issue government propaganda, failing which there could be a price to pay. The Hindi channel has been directed to go off air for 24 hours on November 9 by an inter-ministerial group under the ministry of I&B for its coverage of the Pathankot terrorist attack in January.

The charge is that the channel disclosed the location of the ammunition dump at the airbase and of the terrorists holed up there, and this “strategically sensitive” information could have been exploited by the terrorists’ handlers.

The allegation is pathetic. As the channel has noted in response, it did not tell its viewers anything different or more than the other channels. The singling out obviously owes to other reasons. This channel was known to be broadly objective in its approach, and not fawning, unlike much of audio-visual and not a few of the print media.

The action of the bureaucratic group — to deliver an object lesson so that others may beware — reeks of political prompting. It is unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny. Will NDTV or broadcast editors summon the nerve to take the government to court This is an open question in light of their recent conduct.

NDTV English recently declined to play an interview of former home minister P. Chidambaram, who was apparently critical of the present regime, after airing promos. Worse, in an internal memo its top editors were instructed not to carry unsubstantiated “political bilge” that questioned the armed forces and national security.

Evidently, the NDTV group is now being hoisted by its own petard. Had it not declined to stand up to bullying earlier, it is possible the government would not have had the gumption to fix its Hindi platform.

Another recent glaring instance of self-censorship is CNN18 pulling off air audio-clips of self-incriminating police chatter in the recent Bhopal jail-break case. Media houses have begun to be careful, not wishing to take chances. There is apprehension abroad.

The government seems to have taken to propaganda in a massive way, and those engaged in straightforward, old-fashioned journalism are under suspicion. Anything other than the official narrative is frowned upon. The “wise” are taking their cue. To have its way, the government brandishes idiotic and pseudo-patriotic slogans like “nation first”, “national security”, as though we were an Army-run state. The dangerous assumption is that while ordinary citizens may turn out “anti-national”, it is the government that knows best. This is unacceptable.