National press bodies condemn Prasar Bharati’s threat to PTI for China-related coverage

June 28, 2020

New Delh: The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) and Press Association on Sunday expressed condemned national broadcaster, Prasar Bharati’s threat to the Press Trust of India(PTI), describing its China-related coverage as ”detrimental to national interest and undermining India’s territorial integrity”.

The two national press bodies in a statement here expressed their deep concern over the action of Prasar Bharati which has written a letter to PTI, saying it would review its subscription of the national news agency, purportedly because it carried out an interview with the Chinese Ambassador to India on the Ladakh clashes.

”The fact is PTI was only doing its professional duty. At a time when the Chinese have intruded into Indian territory, it is the job of the journalist to ask the “other side,” in this case a representative of the Chinese government, why this is happening. The interview made all the news – in fact, the Chinese ambassador even conceded, for the first time, that there had been some casualties on the LAC.

It is ironic that the government has chosen to crack down on a venerable institution like the PTI, hours after marking the 45th anniversary of the Emergency when the press was heavily censored,” IWPC and the Press Association said.

By describing PTI’s “recent news coverage” as being detrimental to “national interest and undermining India’s territorial integrity”, it seems the authorities have failed to appreciate the meaning of a free, objective and unbiased media which is the touchstone of a democracy, they said.

”The IWPC and Press Association stand with PTI and with all those who believe that a free press is an integral part both of the Constitution as well as the idea of India,” their statement said.

—India News Stream