Mr Roshan Giri , National General Secretary of GJMM has already written to Shri Manish Tiwary, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, against the on-going dictatorial approach adopted by the district administration in collusion with the state government by way of infringement of the basic right to information of the citizens of Darjeeling. Mr Giri said that in the Memorandum submitted to the I& B Ministry it has been stated that the incident whereby the office of Executive Magistrate of Darjeeling Sadar have unilaterally issued notices dated 08/08/2013 to Milky Way Cable and M/s Darjeeling Combined Cable Network, thereby stopping broadcast from the evening of 08/08/2013.
Mr Giri says that the channels which were disconnected used to air local news, events, update of the ongoing movement and informative programs of the region. Darjeeling Police without any prior intimation raided the office of Hamro Channel, Darjeeling Televison and Himali Channel on the plea of verification of documents pertaining to registration, entertainment tax details etc. However, it is interesting to note the notices are handwritten, issued at 21.05 hours at night, without any official stamp/ seal of the Executive Magistrate. Further, even landline telephone, broadband internet connection have also been disconnected/ blocked in the region.
Ranjan Sharma General Secretary of Delhi GJMM has in a press release said that the channels had been operating for quite some time and the crucial point is all this while the District Magistrate simply sat over the issue and no verification of documents was required when the movement had not started. Evidently, all of a sudden, specially when the movement of Gorkhand has gained momentum at present in Darjeeling as well as in the capital city, the state government in a clear attempt to subvert and suppress the movement have unilaterally been disconnected by the police on the instructions of District administration .
Further , Ranjan says that disconnection of the cable channels amounts to infringement of Fundamental Rights under Article 19 & and Article 14 of the Constitution of India . The right to information of the citizens have also been infringed upon. We shall also fie a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and also a petition in the Telecom Dispute Settlement of India(TDST) as the issue is governed by the laws of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) as per the applicable law, if the cable connection is not restored immidiately .
Mr Giri says that the channels which were disconnected used to air local news, events, update of the ongoing movement and informative programs of the region. Darjeeling Police without any prior intimation raided the office of Hamro Channel, Darjeeling Televison and Himali Channel on the plea of verification of documents pertaining to registration, entertainment tax details etc. However, it is interesting to note the notices are handwritten, issued at 21.05 hours at night, without any official stamp/ seal of the Executive Magistrate. Further, even landline telephone, broadband internet connection have also been disconnected/ blocked in the region.
Ranjan Sharma General Secretary of Delhi GJMM has in a press release said that the channels had been operating for quite some time and the crucial point is all this while the District Magistrate simply sat over the issue and no verification of documents was required when the movement had not started. Evidently, all of a sudden, specially when the movement of Gorkhand has gained momentum at present in Darjeeling as well as in the capital city, the state government in a clear attempt to subvert and suppress the movement have unilaterally been disconnected by the police on the instructions of District administration .
Further , Ranjan says that disconnection of the cable channels amounts to infringement of Fundamental Rights under Article 19 & and Article 14 of the Constitution of India . The right to information of the citizens have also been infringed upon. We shall also fie a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and also a petition in the Telecom Dispute Settlement of India(TDST) as the issue is governed by the laws of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) as per the applicable law, if the cable connection is not restored immidiately .
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