West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that the freedom of media is under attack by the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) government at Centre which is stopping all advertisement to media outlets doing stories against them.
“If journalists are being free and fair then the Centre is stopping all advertisements… Media is being run on the advice of Centre,” she said, while participating in a debate on Bill on anti- lynching in the State Assembly.
“There are cases being lodged against journalists for doing stories,” she said citing a few instances. “I don’t want to take names but I respect Pranoy Roy of NDTV,” she said. During the debate Ms. Banerjee also referred to N. Ram and The Hindu 's coverage of the Rafale deal alleging that Centre is trying to stifle voice of media organizations.
“Every political party is under attack,” she said, referring to arrest of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. Taking a swipe at the leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) she said “I wonder why they ( Centre ) have spared you".
