Doordarshan Struggling to Maintain Freedom:Narendra Modi

Ahmedabad, 3 May, 2014

Gujarat Chief Minister and NDA’s prime ministerial candidate Shri Narendra Modi today in his tweets greeted journalists on World Press Freedom Day. Modi also mentioned sadness over India’s national TV channel’s struggle to maintain its professional freedom. Modi’s this remark was in reference to his recent interview taken by Doordarshan correspondant which was edited apparently with political intentions.

Modi’s tweets:

-Greetings to journalist friends on World Press Freedom Day. Free press is a democracy’s cornerstone & must be preserved in letter & spirit.

-On days such as this, I feel very sad to see our National TV channel struggling to maintain its professional freedom.

-We have witnessed the horrors of Emergency when freedom of press & freedom of expression were suppressed. It is a blot on our democracy.

The story of Doordarshan interview:

Doordarshan journalist recorded interview with Shri Modi.

-Bosses in Doordarshan edited the interview and excluded some parts including the parts involving Modi’s statements on Priyanka Gandhi and Ahmed Patel, that were not-at-all objectionable.

-Controversy surfaced over edited parts of interview in some newspapers.

-Modi’s office that had parallel recording of interview session, released the uncut video tape of interview on Youtube.

-The uncut tape revealed that Modi’s conversation with journo on several issues involving his relation with Congress leader Ahmed Patel were edited.

-Growing number of common people, journos and even BJP criticized and questioned such practice adopted by Doordarshan.

-Jawhar Sircar, who heads Prasar Bharati said in a letter that the shadow of government is leading to lack of credibility. Sircar also referred to information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari saying, “the young minister” didn’t give the government broadcaster greater autonomy.

-Modi’s tweets today morning.