After the ministry of information and broacasting ordered that leading Hindi news channel, NDTV India, be taken off air for a day for its coverage of the Pathankot terror attack, the channel has responded with an official statement saying that it is shocked at being singled out.
In a statement on its website, NDTV said:
“The order of the MIB has been received. It is shocking that NDTV has been singled out in this manner. Every channel and newspaper had similar coverage. In fact NDTV’s coverage was particularly balanced.”
The statement further added:
“After the dark days of the emergency when the press was fettered, it is extraordinary that NDTV is being proceeded against in this manner. NDTV is examining all options in this matter.”
The government on Thursday ordered NDTV India to be taken off air for a day on November 9 after an inter-ministerial panel constituted by the I&B ministry recommended the action over the broadcaster’s coverage of the Pathankot terror attack in January.
The panel had concluded that the channel ‘NDTV India’ had revealed crucial and “strategically sensitive” information when the terror attack on an IAF base was being carried out, official sources said.
The Information and Broadcasting ministry while invoking the powers under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act said it “orders to prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of NDTV India channel for one day on any platform throughout India with effect from 00:01 hrs on 9th November,2016 till 00:01 hrs of 10th November, 2016”.
This is the first ever such order against a TV channel over its coverage of a terror attack, the norms regarding which were notified last year.
The move has also garnered criticism from other journalists working in the Indian media:
Feature Image Source: YouTube/NdtvIndia
(Inputs from PTI)