Journalists and staffers of the two Telugu news channels held a protest march in Hyderabad today.
Two prominent Telugu news TV channels have been taken off air by cable networks in the past few weeks after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was allegedly offended by 'anti-Telangana' content telecast on them.
On June 2, when KCR was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of Telangana, the two channels -- TV9 and ABN -- telecast reports allegedly making fun of the new ministers.
The new Chief Minister was not amused; he threatened to move a Privilege Motion against the channels which, he claimed, had insulted the people of Telangana. The channels did issue an official apology, but they were still taken off air.
After an apology and weeks of trying to receive a pardon, journalists and staffers of the news channels organised a protest march in Hyderabad today. They demanded that KCR himself intervene to lift a blackout of the two channels.
The government claims they have not issued any order about blacking out these channels.
D Amar, former chairperson of the Press Academy, says, "There is no official decision of the government, governor, chief minister or state Cabinet. Yet, there is an undeclared crackdown on these two channels by MSOs (multiple-system operators) who have stopped airing these channels in the whole state, including capital Hyderabad. The Chief Minister should intervene in the matter," he said.
Opposition parties, including Telugu Desam Party, have accused the Telangana government of being vindictive.
"They have apologised. They have to be given a chance. If there is a mistake by the management, he has to go to court,' said Manchi Reddy, TDP legislator from Telangana.