Govt issues advisory to TV channels

A day after Maoist leader Kishenji issued a much publicised statement asking Home Minister P. Chidambaram to call him up, the government reiterated an advisory cautioning television channels about providing unnecessary publicity to terrorists.

A day after Maoist leader Kishenji issued a much publicised statement asking Home Minister P. Chidambaram to call him up, the government reiterated an advisory cautioning television channels about providing unnecessary publicity to terrorists.

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A similar advisory was first issued after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai cautioning television channels about broadcasting interviews of terrorists and glorifying them. The original idea was to avoid jeopardising rescue operations.

The fresh advisory, issued on Wednesday, said: “Some TV channels (in the past) arranged and telecast interviews with terrorists or terrorist groups… a prominent TV channel telecast a phone interview with a dreaded terrorist who tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue using the electronic media.”

The government wants to make the point that this type of coverage causes confusion among domestic and international audiences. Moreover, intelligence agencies oppose what they perceive as TV channels providing terrorists a platform to justify anti-state activities.

“The interviews with terrorists have also provided a platform to them to justify their nefarious activities and obtain coverage on prominent channels which is seen as a major achievement and enabling them to put forward their distorted views to a wide audience,” the advisory said. “Such coverage to terrorists and allowing them to air their views freely can jeopardise national security.”