The one-day ban on a private news channel, ‘NDTV India’, by the government over its coverage of the Pathankot attack drew sharp condemnation on Friday from media bodies and Opposition parties, which called it “shocking and authoritarian” and reminiscent of the Emergency days.
The Editors Guild of India condemned the order as a “direct violation” of the freedom of the press and similar sentiments were echoed by the Broadcast Editors’ Association (BEA). “The Editors Guild of India strongly condemns the unprecedented decision of the inter-ministerial committee of the Union ministry of information and broadcasting to take NDTV India off the air for a day and demands that the order be immediately rescinded,” the Guild said in a statement.
“The decision to take the channel off-air for a day is a direct violation of the freedom of the media and, therefore, the citizens of India, which amounts to harsh censorship imposed by the government reminiscent of the Emergency,” it added.
Expressing concern at the government’s decision, the BEA demanded that the order be withdrawn immediately. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh even suggested that all newspapers and channels should “show courage” and “go off air and not publish” on that day to register their protest. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the order of the inter-ministerial panel showed that an Emergency-like situation prevailed in the country while Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi slammed it as “shocking and unprecedented”.
Alleging that the government action smacked of “authoritarianism and intimidation”, Mr Gandhi and other Congress leaders hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Detaining Opposition leaders, blacking out TV channels — all in a day’s work in Modiji’s India. NDTVbanned-shocking and unprecedented (sic),” the Congress vice-president said on Twitter.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who is also political secretary to party president Sonia Gandhi, said, “The government’s decision to ban NDTV India smacks of authoritarianism and intimidation.” Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah lashed out at the Centre, asking if these were the promised “achhe din (good days)”.
“NDTV ban is shocking. If government had issues with the Pathankot coverage, there are provisions available. But the ban shows an Emergency-like attitude,” Ms Banerjee said in a statement.
“I hope the entire media goes off air for a day in solidarity wid NDTV. Congratulations to the Editors Guild for showing courage to stand up against the Modi government’s dictatorship,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
Meanwhile, the BJP supported the government’s decision to ban the news channel, saying the nation comes first and there can’t be any compromise with the national security. “We support the freedom of press but the nation comes first and there can’t be any compromise with its security,” BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
