HVK Archives: Vajpayee's speech censored?
Vajpayee's speech censored? - The Hindustan Times
HTC
()
24 January 1997
Title : Vajpayee's speech censored?
Author : HTC
Publication : The Hindustan Times
Date : January 24, 1997
Thousands of TV viewers watching the live telecast of the
Subhas Chandra Bose birth centenary function at Red Fort
were jolted into rude silence on Thursday when the
transmission suddenly went off. At that point, leader of
the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and former Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee was paying tributes to Netaji.
Mr Vajpayee was referring to the controversial treatment
meted out to Subhas Chandra Bose by the Congress
leadership when he tried to contest the presidentship of
the party for a second term after the Haripur Congress
session. At that stage the transmission went off. It made
many viewers feel that it was either a deliberate
mischief or a calculated act of censorship.
Suddenly, the viewers saw the Red Fort transmission
substituted by a chorus sung for about four to five
minutes after the usual regret for interruption flip.
The chorus over, the transmission on DD1 went back to the
Red Fort function live telecast but by then Mr Vajpayee's
address was over. A visibly grim-faced leader of the
Opposition was shown listening rather than speaking.
Many angry viewers called up the Doordarshan and
newspaper offices to register their protest at what
seemed to be an inroad on the freedom of speech at a
function to pay tributes to one who fought for India's
freedom.
Back
Top
|
