Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the regional media, specifically the electronic, is tarnishing West Bengal’s image, viewers should stop watching such channels, and advertisers should re-think. She made the allegation, at a point in time when the death of a minor, allegedly gangraped by a local Trinamool leader’s son and others, adds one more shock to the list of incidents that have rocked the state over the past few weeks.
Inaugurating an exhibition venue, Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, Mamata said that industries are headed to the state and this will be evident in the upcoming Bengal Global Business Summit, scheduled for next week. There is one problem - she added - the tv channels, here.
When an incident happens, without inquiring they start a media trial. “They lack basic responsibility… have you inquired once that the person narrating you the incident is correct, or not?” she said. Media here (in the region) is tarnishing Bengal’s image, damaging Bengal’s perception, the CM said, adding, “This I will not let happen.”
She also referred to regional ventures that have head offices in Karnataka, New Delhi, alleging they don’t show even one good work (done by the government).
Mamata scoffed at the evening panel discussions. Reporting news, she claimed, based on source-based information “is illegal”. “If you have the courage, say directly, how an incident happened… Enough is enough. We tolerate it in Bengal. But this doesn’t mean you will cross all boundaries,” she said.
Referring to recent incidents of Madhya Pradesh - where protesters, including a journalist, were forcibly stripped in lock-up, and of Odisha where a journalist was kept chained to his bed in hospital, Mamata questioned silence of the Press Council and the Kolkata Press Club over the incident.
“Because TMC and Bengal are soft ground, so you do so?... I think those who give advertisements should think,” she said while speaking about the news channels and politics of the opponents.
Referring to the gangrape case, she said that the information with her suggests it was a ‘love affair’. The alleged victim died on 5 April, the police received the information on 10th. By then the body was cremated.
If boys, girls fall in love, it’s not possible for me to obstruct them. “It is not UP that I will start a programme with love jihad… But we will certainly see if someone does injustice. Action will be taken, and has been taken in the form of arrest, no colour being seen,” she added.
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