Indian journalists to march in protest against ban on NDTV

The Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indian Women’s Press Corps will march in Delhi on Monday afternoon in protest against the government decision to take Hindi news channel NDTV India off the air on November 9 for allegedly violating the programme code under Indian broadcast law.

An inter-ministerial group said the channel flouted the rules by revealing sensitive details during its coverage of a militant attack on the Pathankot airbase in January.

“The Press Club of India and the Indian Women’s Press Corps strongly condemn the decision of the inter-ministerial committee,” the two journalists’ bodies said in a joint statement. “We demand that the information and broadcast ministry should immediately quash the order as it is arbitrary and violates the fundamental principles of freedom of expression as enshrined in our Constitution.”

This is the first time ever in India that a news channel has been barred from broadcasting for breaching national security laws in the country. While the government has defended the ban in the interest of national security, the Editors Guild of India has condemned it as "a violation of the freedom of media".

The PCI had earlier planned to protest on the day of the blackout, but brought their action forward by 48 hours.

“We had initially planned only a protest meeting but many members have said they also want to carry out a protest march. We will go with the popular sentiment,” PCI president Gautam Lahiri said.

Earlier, the Editors Guild of India and the Broadcast Editors’ Association too had condemned the ban seeking its reversal. The guild had likened the ban to the days of the Emergency.

An Indian man walks in a parking lot of Indian news channel NDTV in New Delhi on November 5, 2016 AFP

NDTV moves Supreme Court against the ban

NDTV has approached the Supreme Court against a controversial central government notice ordering its Hindi channel, NDTV India, off the air for a day, one of the group’s top directors tweeted on Monday.

NDTV India was asked to go off the air on November 9 after the government said the channel revealed sensitive details during its coverage of a militant attack on the Pathankot airbase in January. This crucial information could have been readily picked up by the militants’ handlers and jeopardised national security, the information and broadcasting ministry said.

#NDTVBanned - @NDTV moves Supreme Court against Wednesday ban on @ndtvindia

— Suparna Singh (@Suparna_Singh) November 7, 2016

This was the first time in India a channel was asked to stop broadcasting over concerns about national security. But the order has been widely panned with activists, journalists and opposition politicians accusing the BJP-led government of singling out NDTV and muzzling free speech. Many of them have also dubbed the order a return of the “Emergency-era” curbs on the press . But the government has defended the action, saying many other channels were banned in the past and that free speech couldn’t be absolute or override national security.

Journalists & union representatives at #Hyderabad protest against #NdtvBan call for withdrawal of govt order pic.twitter.com/sm8Mm2t8Yg— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) November 7, 2016

Ban order

The Information & Broadcasting ministry has passed an order 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”.

The law

Under Rule 6(1)(p) of the Cable TV Network (Regulation) Act of India, no programme should be carried in the cable service which contains live coverage of any anti-terrorist operation by security forces, wherein media coverage shall be restricted to periodic briefing by an officer designated by the appropriate government, till such operation concludes.

Why was NDTV banned?

Sources in the Information & Broadcasting ministry say action was taken against the channel because it had revealed sensitive details, such as the location of the ammunition depot, school and residential areas in its coverage of the January 2, 2016 Pathankot attack. It also appeared to disclose the location of the attackers.

This crucial information could have been readily picked up by the terrorists’ handlers and jeopardised national security as well as the lives of civilians and defence personnel.

Source: Hindustan Times