Banning NDTV for a day 'shocking': Rahul Gandhi

NDTV India will go off air for 24 hours from November 8-9 for allegedly breaching broadcast norms

New Delhi, Nov 4: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the government over its "shocking and unprecedented" decision to ban Hindi news channel NDTV India for a day.

"Detaining opposition leaders, blacking out tv channels - all in a day's work in Modiji's India. NDTV Banned- shocking and unprecedented," Gandhi said in a tweet.

Detaining opposition leaders, blacking out tv channels- all in a day's work in Modiji's India. #NDTVBanned-shocking & unprecedented https://t.co/PXR7c2x20y

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 4, 2016

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed NDTV India to go off air for 24 hours from the midnight of November 8-9 for allegedly breaching broadcast norms in its coverage of the attack on an Indian Air Force base in Punjab in January this year.

Even the Editors Guild of India has condemned the "unprecedented decision" of the government and demanded that the order be immediately rescinded.

The Guild said in a statement that the decision was a direct violation of the freedom of the media, and therefore of the citizens of India, and "amounts to harsh censorship imposed by the government reminiscent of the Emergency".

IANS