National broadcaster Doordarshan on Wednesday refuted charges of blacking out the Independence Day speech of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and said that the reports are ‘totally incorrect’.
Doordarshan in its letter stated that the News Unit of the local station of Doordarshan has given wide coverage to the public address of the Chief Minister and the development activity of the state government.
Here’s the letter of Doordarshan:
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Tuesday alleged that Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) refused to broadcast his Independence Day address unless he “reshaped” it. Sarkar called it an “undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step”.
Sarkar’s speech was supposed to be broadcast on Tuesday by Doordarshan and AIR in Tripura.
In a strongly-worded statement, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemned the censorship and said it was a “gross infringement on the right of a Chief Minister to address the people of his state on Independence Day.”
“This act is reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected Chief Minister of a state. The Central Government is trampling upon the autonomy of Doordarshan/AIR and Prasar Bharati by such acts of censorship. The Polit Bureau demands action against those responsible for prohibiting the broadcast. The Modi Government should stop treating the Prasar Bharati as a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” the statement said.
(Feature Image Source: PTI)
