The Telangana Multiple System Operators (MSOs) on Monday decided to continue blockade of TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyothi news channels and also planned to meet the Information & Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar to explain the reasons behind their decision.
At a meeting held in the city and attended by district representatives, the Federation of Telangana MSOs said they were planning to send a delegation to Mr.Javadekar and present before him events that led to the cable operators blocking these two news channels.
Last week, Mr Javadekar had told the Rajya Sabha that he would try to resolve the matter and added that if MSOs resort to any censorship and violate norms, the I&B Ministry was empowered to take action.
M.Subhash Reddy, president of the federation, charged the channels of telecasting objectionable content that hurt the sentiments of Telangana people. “Even the Telangana State Assembly took cognizance of the objectionable content,” he said.
The channels could always engage them in a discussion and seek a resolution, he said and added, “But they are not making any move and we too are going to stick to our decision”.
The Federation maintained that they had presented their case to the High Court when the issue went there and also responded to a notice served by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). “The TRAI sought explanation on why we had stopped the two channels without the mandatory 15-day notice and we explained the reasons. There was pressure on us from the Telangana people and we had to act,” Mr.Reddy said.
