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

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

Search This Blog