The government on Saturday revoked a 48-hour ban on two leading Malayalam news channels hours after imposing the punitive measure on separate charges of being critical of the RSS, Delhi Police and siding with one community while covering last month’s violence in the national capital.
Itwas not immediately clear whether widespread criticism of the ban on AsianetNews and Media One channels prompted the government to withdraw the restrictions.
Informationand Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters in Pune that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the entire issue, adding thegovernment supports press freedom.
Withoutgoing into specifics, Javadekar said he would look into the matter and take”essential steps” if any wrongdoing is found.
“Iwill definitely go into the details and take essential steps if there is anywrongdoing. But let me also tell you that everybody should accept that therehas to be responsible freedom,” he said.
Thechannels were suspended for 48 hours beginning 7:30 PM on Friday over theircoverage of the communal violence in Delhi. The official orders said that thechannels covered events of February 25 in a manner that “highlighted the attackon places of worship and siding towards a particular community”.
Theban on Asianet News was lifted at 1.30 am, while the ban on Media One waslifted at 9.30 am on Saturday, a source in the Ministry of Information andBroadcasting told PTI.
Inits order against Media On, the ministry said the channel questioned the RSSand accused Delhi Police of inaction.
TheCongress and Left parties came down hard on the government for the punitiveaction, calling the clampdown “stifling of media freedom”.
InThiruvananthapuram, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the ban a”dangerous trend” and added it was an indication of the comingdangers.
“TheCentre has made an infringement into the freedom of the press, crossing alllimits. There is a threat that if anybody criticises RSS and Sangh Parivar,they will be taught a lesson,” he said in a statement.
AsianetNews Editor M G Radhakrishnan said management of the channel contacted theInformation and Broadcasting Ministry after the ban was imposed and spoken withrelevant people explaining its position on the matter.
MediaOne Editor-in-chief C L Thomas said his channel had not reached out to thegovernment and the ministry “suo motu” revoked the ban.
“Wewere proceeding for legal action. Today we got the information that the ban hasbeen revoked, so we did not go ahead with the legal proceedings. We did notcontact anyone in the ministry, the government suo motu lifted the ban,”Thomas said.
Theministry’s suspension order for Media One had said, “Channel’s reportingon Delhi violence seems to be biased as it is deliberately focusing on thevandalism of CAA supporters. It also questions RSS and alleges Delhi Policeinaction. Channel seems to be critical towards Delhi Police and RSS.”
“Weare happy that the ministry has suo motu lifted the ban. We will continue onthe same path we have been following and upholding the classical values ofjournalism,” Thomas said.
Radhakrishnansaid the channel’s management spoke with the I&B ministry in an effort to”convince them”.
“They(management) seemed to have succeeded in their attempt. Since it was nightthere was no time for making any formal application. They spoke with all thepeople concerned in the ministry and convinced them. That is what the ministerhas also come out saying today,” he said.
“Therewas no apology made from our side. The reporting was all factual,”Radhakrishnan said.
AsianetNews is indirectly owned by BJP Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Therewas no official word or comment from the ministry on what transpired betweenthe time the ban was imposed till it was lifted and officials said they hadnothing to add to what the minister said.
Javadekarsaid, “Two Kerala channels were banned for 48 hours. We immediately foundout what exactly happened and therefore we immediately restored thechannels.”
Heasserted that the government was committed to the freedom of press.
“Ourbasic thought process is that the freedom of press is absolutely essential inthe democratic set up and that is the commitment of Modi government,” hesaid.