Cong banned 21 channels for airing midnight masala: Govt over NDTV ban

New Delhi: Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi over his strident attack on the Modi government, I&B minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said his talk of democracy and fundamental rights is like the "devil quoting scriptures".

"Every word said by (Rahul) him, suits them and reminds the nation of what they have done. He may not be knowing," Naidu said, reminding people of Emergency clamped by the Congress in 1975. "The Congress talking of democracy and fundamental rights is like the devil quoting scriptures."

Naidu told reporters that the country is vibrant and people from all walks of life feel they have a stake in the governance issues.

He claimed that the Congress Vice President's outburst at the CWC meeting today is a result of the party's frustration that even after showing readiness to strike "unnatural and unholy alliances", it could see no prospect of faring well in Uttar Pradesh or other states.

Naidu justified his ministry's order that Hindi news channel NDTV India be taken off for a day, saying that 21 channels were "banned" during the UPA regime.

Many of these channels were banned, he said, for airing "midnight masala" while the present action is with regard to giving details like ammunition depot etc during the Pathankot terror attack.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi, Naidu said he would like to remind him that the UPA government for the first time stipulated the norms of coverage of anti-terror operations.

Earlier, launching a scathing attack on the Modi government, Rahul said democracy is going through "one of its darkest hours" with the ruling dispensation "obsessed with power and seeking to silence" all those who disagree.

"It is ridiculous to say that PM Shri Modi is obsessed with power. The entire Nation knows who and which family is obsessed with power and for which the country was thrown into the dark days of Emergency," Naidu said.

He claimed that articles are written calling the Prime Minister names and yet the present regime has taken no action, while earlier people have been jailed even for drawing a cartoon.

Referring to Emergency, Naidu said that at time people from Jaiprakash Narayan to 12-year-old children were sent to jail. Many top BJP leaders too had opposed Emergency and gone to jail, Naidu said.

Naidu said that a news channel -- Janmat -- had been taken off air during the Congress' rule for content-related violations.

Speaking about the decision to impose a one-day penalty on the Hindi news channel, Naidu said that during the UPA's term, an advisory was issued to all media agencies on December 3, 2008, explaining the ills of unbalanced reporting.

"Unbalanced reporting of news about terrorist attacks is likely to inhibit the return to normalcy in the circumstance and indirectly supports the basic design of the terrorists to create chaos. Repeated visuals and stories pertaining to the attack which would make the terrorists feel their attack was a success, should therefore be avoided," Naidu said, quoting the advisory.

"Continued unbalanced reporting which inhibits restoration of normalcy and propagates a feeling of insecurity may be treated as coverage against the interests of the nation and attract appropriate action under rules," he said.

It is, hence, clear that the UPA government wanted media to abide by some norms and violation of which amounts to acting against the interests of the country, Naidu said.

Such concerns of the UPA government that are shared by this government led to incorporation of Rule 6(1)(P) last year. "It was found necessary since a rule would be more binding than an advisory," he said.

Naidu also quoted a Supreme Court judgement, which was critical of TV coverage of the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, to support his arguments.

The minister asked if the Congress wanted to debate on what constitutes national interests and if no action is to be taken when these are violated and said "we are ready for such a discussion in the coming session of Parliament".

Naidu said that the government has nothing against the channel even if they are critical of it and even had appeared on it.

Speaking about the Emergency, Naidu said recently Modi had said that coming generations too should discuss the consequences of such anti-democratic measure so that no one could think of doing the same again.