File photo of Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has come out strongly against allegations that an interview of BJP's prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi, recently telecast on Doordarshan, was censored.
"The autonomy of Parasar Bharati is guaranteed by the Parliament. Prasar Bharati is a board run organisation and the Information and Broadcast Ministry has an arms-length relationship with it," Mr Tewari said this afternoon.
Mr Tewari's remarks came just hours after Mr Modi took a swipe at the government on Twitter this morning over his edited interview. Using the occasion of Word Press Freedom Day, Mr Modi tweeted "I feel very sad to see our National TV channel struggling to maintain its professional freedom." (
Modi's Jibe at Government Over Edited Doordarshan Interview)
He had also tweeted, "We have witnessed the horrors of Emergency when freedom of press & freedom of expression were suppressed. It is a blot on our democracy".
Yesterday, fuelling the controversy, Jawhar Sircar, the top man at Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio, had said in a letter that the broadcaster must get more autonomy, and referred to the "shadow of government" leading to lack of credibility for the national broadcaster. (
Prasar Bharati CEO Talks of 'Shadow of Govt')
On Thursday evening, Mr Modi's office had released the unedited version of his interview that aired on Doordarshan last Sunday.
Remarks edited out by the broadcaster include Mr Modi talking of a one-time friendship with Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Those remarks were described as "baseless and ridiculous" by Mr Patel. (
Amid Edited Remarks, Modi's Comments on Ahmed Patel 'Friendship')
Also omitted by Doordarshan were Mr Modi's remarks on Sonia Gandhi's daughter,
Priyanka.
He said he understands her need to defend her mother and brother
Rahul who is leading the Congress campaign for the national election.
Doordarshan's news executives had so far said that the interview was edited for technical reasons and without any political interference.