Delhi Violence: I&B Ministry Bars Malayalam Channels Asianet News And MediaOne For 48 Hours For 'Baised Reporting'

New Delhi, March 6: The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday imposed a ban of 48 hours on Malayalam channels Asianet News and MediaOne for their 'coverage of the Delhi riots', by alleging them of 'baised reporting'. Following the ban, both the channels are showing a black screen since 7.30 pm on Friday, March 6, which would continue till showing a black screen since 7.30 pm on Friday, March 6.

Informing about the latest development, as quoted by news agency ANI and Bar and Bench, MIB said in a statement, "Such telecast could incite violence & pose danger to maintenance of law & order situation, particularly when the situation is already highly volatile & charged up & riots are taking place in the area with reports of killings & bloodbath." Delhi Violence: High Court Seeks Arvind Kejriwal Govt, Police Response on PIL for Making Public List of Arrested.

Adding more, the I&B ministry said, "Channel's reporting on Delhi violence seems to be biased as it is deliberately focusing on the vandalism of CAA supporters." The ministry even said that Delhi violence was shown in a manner which highlighted the attack on places of worship and sided towards a particular community.

Here are the tweets:

According the MIB circular, both Asianet News and MediaOne reported the Delhi violence in a biased manner and were critical of the RSS and Delhi police. It also added that the news channels supported the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in poor light. The Ministry had also alleged that MediaONE accused the Delhi Police of remaining inactive during violence.

Meanwhile, Kerala's opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had slammed Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi government for its decision to halt the telecast and called it unconstitutional. He wrote, "Decision to halt the telecast of Media One & Asianet news by Modi is unconstitutional & against the freedom of press. All democratic minds should unite to voice against this fascist decision. These medias did a wonderful job in bringing out the gravity of communal violence in Delhi."

Here's his tweet:

It is to be known that in the last week of February, communal clashes erupted in North-East Delhi on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act. Over 45 people lost they lives, while more than 200 were injured.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2020 10:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).