Govt of India "reveals": It was quite lenient on NDTV, imposing just 24 hour ban despite the plea for 30 days

By A Representative
The Government of India has sought to to make out that the the 24 hour ban it imposed on the NDTV India news channel is “quite lenient” compared to what the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which looked into the channel's “violation” of the Programming and Adverising Code, 1995, amended in 2015, while covering the January 2016 Pathankot terror attack.
A Ministry of Defence source has been quoted as saying that the IMC had “in fact recommended a 30-day ban” but, as a “token of warning” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting “decided” to go in for just one-day ban.
The ban, said this source, was imposed because of the manner in which NDTV “presented and represented” facts related with the Pathankot attack. The NDTV was given “ample time” to explain why it violated the code, to which, the source added, NDTV replied it was a matter of “subjective interpretation.”
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's (MIB's) order, issued last Thursday, had said the NDTV India’s reportage revealed “information on the ammunition stockpiled in the airbase, MIGs, fighter planes, rocket launchers, mortars, helicopters, fuel tanks”, causing a potential threat to national security, adding, the coverage appeared to “give out the exact location of the remaining terrorists with regard to the sensitive assets in their vicinity”.
The order alleged that NDTV India violated the the Programme Code under the Cable TV Network Rules, 1995, which said, “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” [rule 6(1)(p)].
NDTV was quick to respond, saying that the channel had been “singled out” despite the fact that “every channel and newspaper had similar coverage.”
Claiming that NDTV's coverage was “particularly balanced”, NDTV said, “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.”
Meanwhile, NDTV has reportedly removed all videos of the Pathankot coverage off the internet, though the reports telecast by NDTV, the English channel, remain online. The attack on the Army base in Pathankot, which was headline news and covered by all media, remain online elsewhere, too.
Reporting on the attack online, Hindi channel ABP News correspondent had this to say, “We are outside the air force station in Pathankot and these helicopters are firing continuously at certain spots. This is the fighter helicopter of air force that is constantly firing.”
Another Hindi channel, Aaj Tak “revealed” how the military operation was going on while the programme was being shot and aired. In live report, the channel's reporter is seen bending and squatting while trying to catch his breath as he talked, with footage being shown from an area that was cordoned off, and where the police personnel were stationed.
All the while, firing could be seen on Aaj Tak screen behind the correspondent in Naushera. The Aaj Tak report said, fighter planes were doing “surveillance at night with their visibility lights off”. IBN was no different, say those who have closely monitored these footages.
The NDTV in its reply also had argued that the information given out by their reporter was already out in the public domain in newspapers like the Indian Express and the Times of India.
On January 3, the Indian Express carried a story which read: “At the IAF base, MIG Bison fighter jets, MI-35 attack helicopters, missiles and other critical assets were secure and the terrorists were prevented from getting near the technical area where the assets were stationed, IAF sources said.”
Even the MIB quotes the Times of India report, which said, “The airbase houses MiG-21 Bison fighter jets and MI-25 and MI-35 attack helicopters. Besides this, it also has Pechora missile- a surface to air missile - other air defence missiles and surveillance radars.”
Meanwhile, Ministry of Defence sources continue to adopt a belligerent attitude towards the media, saying, the media “needs to take prior permission from the respective authorities while covering any terror attack and has to follow the guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Defence.”
---
Click HERE for past Government of India actions taken to ban TV channels for allegedly violating the 1995 programme code

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

Dalit woman student’s death sparks allegations of institutional neglect in Himachal college

By A Representative A Dalit rights organisation has alleged severe caste- and gender-based institutional violence leading to the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman student at Government Degree College, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and has demanded arrests, resignations, and an independent inquiry into the case.

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor* A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

The architect of Congolese liberation: The life and legacy of Patrice Lumumba

By Harsh Thakor* Patrice Émery Lumumba remains a central figure in the history of African decolonization, serving as the first Prime Minister of the independent Republic of the Congo. Born on July 2, 1925, Lumumba emerged as a radical anti-colonial leader who sought to unify a nation fractured by decades of Belgian rule. His tenure, however, lasted less than seven months before his dismissal and subsequent assassination on January 17, 1961.

Venezuela and the crisis of global order: Erosion of rules-based international order

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The American attack on Venezuela violates every principle of international law that the collective West claims to uphold. The response from the European Union—“we are monitoring the situation”—exposes the hollowness of these claims. WhatsApp gossipers may celebrate this as an act of “bravery,” but what kind of bravery is it to intimidate a neighbour that is neither large in size nor strong in military power?

Search This Blog