CPI(M) demands immediate withdrawal of ban on news channel

Terming the government's move to ban a news channel for a day as a "brazen attack on freedom of expression", the CPI(M) today said it reveals the authoritarian attitude of the Modi government and demanded that the ban be lifted.
"The CPI(M) demands the immediate withdrawal of the ban order and an assurance from the government that such arbitrary actions will not be undertaken in the future," the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement.
"This is a brazen attack on media freedom and an attempt to gag freedom of expression. It reveals the increasingly authoritarian attitude of the Modi government," it said.

The government's move came after an inter-ministerial panel concluded that the channel, NDTV India, had revealed crucial and "strategically sensitive" information on the Pathankot terror attack in January this year.
Invoking powers under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, the Information and Broadcasting ministry said it orders to prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of the channel for a day on any platform throughout India with effect from 00:01 hours on November 9, 2016 till 00:01 hours of November 10.