http://scroll.in/article/820992/the-daily-fix-censorship-should-not-become-the-new-normal
Censorship should not become the new normal 3 hours ago Updated 2 hours ago Sruthisagar Yamunan Shooting the messenger On Monday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu decided to put on hold the order requiring NDTV India to go off air for a day on November 9 as a penalty for allegedly revealing strategically sensitive information during its broadcast about the militant attack on the Pathankot airbase in January. The decision was taken after the NDTV management asked for the order to be reviewed, Naidu said. He added somewhat belligerently that the decision to take the channel off air for a day was just and proper and dismissed criticism that the government was muzzling those who were critical of it. In doing so, Naidu has made an unambiguous point. The decision to review the ban order did not come from a realisation that such censorship could endanger freedom of expression. The channel had moved the Supreme Court against the order on Monday and the case is scheduled for hearing on Tuesday. It seems obvious that Naidu used NDTV's decision to reach out to the government to soften a possible blow from the court. It would be interesting to see what position the channel takes in the court on Tuesday since the ban has only been suspended and not revoked. Since the ban order was passed last week, the Centre has come under severe pressure from the media. Opposition parties have got into the act too, with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi calling the development the "darkest hour for Indian democracy". There was a feeling that NDTV India had been singled out for the harsh treatment despite the fact that many other television news channels had broadcast the same details during the attacks. The developments over the last week made one thing obvious. In the NDTV India ban, the government has tested waters on how far it could go in imposing its writ on the media. The backlash from members of the profession has clearly forced the government to take a step back. But going by Naidu's own comments on Saturday, the government believes its decision had popular support. When rulers see that decisions undermining fundamental rights receive no adverse reactions from the public, there was always the danger of such actions becoming the new normal. The controversy has also turned attention to the media's reactions to incidents of censorship involving journalists and newspapers outside Delhi. While journalists gathered in large numbers at the Press Club of India on Monday to register their protest against the government's decision on NDTV India, the Kashmir Reader has been forced out of print since October 2 and has not attracted the eyes of Delhi. If the media was serious about fighting censorship, it had to go beyond such selective outrage. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
