New Delhi: In the wake of televangelist Zakir Naik’s alleged inflammatory sermons through a private television channel ‘Peace TV’, the government on Friday decided to issue an advisory to stop the broadcast of non-licensed channels in the country.
Sources said that the decision was taken at a high-level meeting, chaired by Union Information and Broadcasting minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, held on Friday evening. It is understood that the government is likely to seek enforcement of ban on telecast of non-licensed channels in the wake of Zakir Naik controversy.
Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore said there are reports that channels are being broadcast which are not licensed. “I&B ministry issues license to some channels, only those channels are allowed to be broadcast by MSOs and cable operators. We are issuing advisories to district advisory committees and also to the state monitoring committees that they should monitor what the cable operators are broadcasting. If any content is being broadcast in violation of the guidelines, action will be taken against them,” he said.
