The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry has lifted the 48-hour ban on two prominent Malayalam news channels over their coverage of the violence in Delhi over the amended citizenship law.
The ban was placed for violating provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1994 while covering the communal riots that rocked the northeastern part of Delhi last month. The ministry on Friday, March 6, issued separate orders to MediaOne TV and Asianet News TV stating that their broadcast will be barred from 7:30 pm on Friday till 7:30 pm on Sunday.
As per the ministry, both the news channels carried reports that "highlighted the attack on places of worship and favoured a particular community". The ministry, on February 28, had issued show-cause notices to MediaOne TV and Asianet News TV demanding an explanation as to why the Centre should not take any action against them.
The I&B ministry had earlier warned all the television channels to not carry any reports that may incite violence in the national capital. However, both the news channels were eventually found in violation of rules 6 (1) (c) and (e) of the Programme Code under the Cable TV Act.
MediaOne TV was critical towards RSS and Delhi Police, says I&B ministry
In its 7-page long order to MediaOne TV, the I&B ministry stated that the channel aired biased reports that only focussed on the vandalism caused by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) supporters.
"The channel alleged that Delhi Police remained inactive during the violence, vandalised the shops and set them ablaze. It also reported that violence took place mostly in the Muslim majority area of Chand Bagh, Delhi. The channel appeared to be critical towards Delhi Police and RSS," the order said.
The Managing Editor of MediaOne TV, C. Dawood, has termed the order as "undeclared Emergency on the media and democracy" and said that the channel will approach courts.
Asianet News TV accused of reporting Centre's inaction
The order issued to Asianet News TV states the channel ran a report which only showed the attack on houses of Muslims in Hindu dominated areas. The report also said that the central forces did not take any action to curb the ruckus when the violence turned communal after a section of Hindus chanted Jai Sri Ram and Muslims chanted Azadi slogans.
"While reporting such critical incident, Asianet News TV should have taken utmost care and should have done it in a balanced way. Such reporting could enhance the communal disharmony across the country when the situation is highly volatile," the I&B ministry said in its order.
Kerala Union of Working Journalists condemns Centre's move
Reacting to the ban imposed on the news channels, the state committee of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) said that the Central Government's move is an assault on the freedom of the press in the country and can create Emergency like situation.
"Centre's stand that the media must only report what they say is not democratic. It is not acceptable as well. It must at once withdraw this order," the KUWJ said in its statement.
