Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) and Press Association condemn Prasar Bharti notice to PTI

The Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) and Press Association have expressed their deep concern over the threat issued by the national broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, to review its subscription of the Press Trust of India (PTI), the national news agency, purportedly because it carried out an interview with the Chinese Ambassador to India on the Ladakh clashes

In a statement released on Sunday, it said, “The fact is PTI was only doing its professional duty. At a time when the Chinese have intruded into Indian territory, it is the job of the journalist to ask the ‘other side’, in this case a representative of the Chinese government, why this is happening. The interview made all the news – in fact, the Chinese ambassador even conceded, for the first time, that there had been some casualties on the LAC.”

“By describing PTI's ‘recent news coverage’ as being detrimental to ‘national interest and undermining India's territorial integrity’, it seems the authorities have failed to appreciate the meaning of a free, objective and unbiased media which is the touchstone of a democracy,” it said.

“The IWPC and Press Association stand with PTI and with all those who believe that a free press is an integral part both of the Constitution as well as the idea of India,” it added.