Government not gagging media, full freedom of press: Naidu

There is no media gagging under the present regime and the media is completely free to write and express their views, Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said here on Friday.

"Some people are saying that the media is being gagged. But there is no such thing. The only time media was gagged was during the Emergency. There is no such thing now," Naidu said at the Akashvani Annual Awards here.

"People are free. They can talk what they want, they can write what they want," he added.

He said that the Narendra Modi government believes in "freedom of press and freedom of expression".

Naidu said that an unnecessary debate was being created over the "non-existent beef ban".

"They say, India is going to be converted to a vegetarian country. I say, who told you that? I am myself a 'masahari' (non-vegetarian). Nobody ever told me what should I eat and what I shouldn't," he said.

--IANS

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