JOIN USCable operators in Telangana stopped airing the channels TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyothi from Monday morning in all the 10 districts in the state, including parts of common capital Hyderabad, which has a considerable number of cable connections to Seemandhra consumers.
The demand for action on these two channels was raised by none other than Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. He saw to it that footage of the allegedly derogatory programmes in these two channels owned by Seemandhra entrepreneurs was played in the Assembly.
Several Telangana MLAs, including a Dalit MLA whose pronunciation was shown in bad light, became emotional and supported action against these channels.
KCR has proposed a Cable TV Act for Telangana on the lines of the one in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, sources say that Assembly Secretariat has sought legal opinion on the issue.
The decision to block the channels was formally taken at a meeting of the Telangana Multiple Systems Operators (TMSO) here on Monday, which announced its full support to the resolution passed by the Telangana Assembly, leaving the decision to the Speaker.
However, the TMSO, which had stood firmly behind the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) during the agitation for Telangana, has decided to go ahead and announced that all channels telecasting programmes from Telangana would have to respect the culture of the state.
“We will not tolerate belittling of our language, food and culture by Seemandhra channels. We will conduct classes to teach them what we are and what we expect,” said TMSO president Subhash Reddy.