SRINAGAR: As budget session in the Legislative Assembly is on, Valley based local channels said they hope the ban imposed on telecast of news during Omar Abdullahs regime will be lifted now.
Interestingly, PDP while being in opposition had raised concern over the imposition of the ban on local channels by the then government, saying such measures are condemnable and unfortunate.
It was on 23 July 2012 when People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti condemned the restrictions on cable operators news broadcasting programmes, saying the ban is like “the curbs enforced under Martial law and emergency situations.”
“If broadcasting of news programmes in one part of the state is good, how can it be bad in the other part? The restriction on cable operators not only tantamount to the violation of democratic rights but it has rendered hundreds of youth associated with the business to the verge of unemployment,” the PDP president had said.
Mehbooba at that time demanded that the government should immediately grant permission to the local cable operators to broadcast news programmes. Speaking to a delegation of cable operators of Kashmir at her residence, Mehbooba described their contribution “valuable”.
“People of Kashmir cannot forget contribution of local cable operators while witnessing testing and hard times. Many people associated with this business lost their lives while performing their professional duties”.
Expressing disappointment over the government’s ban, she said, “With local news channels off-the-air, the government has not only censored media but denied people their constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression.”
The PDP president said that instead of supporting and facilitating the cable network business for transparency and dissemination of information in the state, the government seems in denial mode.
“At the behest of some vested interests, these cable operators in Kashmir are being intimidated and harassed. Government offices should not be misused for practice of intimidation and censorship,” alleged Mehbooba.
In 2009 after the Shopian alleged rape case, the Omar led coalition in the state imposed ban on the telecast of the current affairs program on local channels sitting the law and order issues. The government at that time maintained that the telecast of some private TV News Channels were found to violate the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, therefore, has been stopped for the time being. The government however, said that there is no ban on telecast of recreational or entertainment programmes by these channels.
However, the local channels contested the claims of the government; saying that how could the regional channels operate in Jammu region then if the rule is being violated by the Kashmir based TV News Channels. The owners said that the channels in Jammu function sans any hindrance while the whip is being cracked on Kashmir valley- leaving hundreds of youth, associated with channels jobless.
The channel owners have one more reason to rejoice and stay hopeful as It was the PDP which at that time raised pitch against the ban.