RS adjourned over Delhi riots, Kerala media gag

New Delhi:  Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday adjourned the House till 2 pm after an uproar over the Delhi violence in the last week of February and the broadcast ban on two Kerala-based TV channels.

After Binoy Viswam and KK Ragesh of the Communist Party of India raised the issue of ban on two Malayalam news channels on Friday, members from other opposition parties stood up and demanded discussion on the issue.

Earlier, Naidu had said that the debate on the Delhi riots will be held on Thursday morning.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had suspended the transmission by the two news channels for 48 hours from 7.30 pm on Friday over their coverage of the violence in northeast Delhi.

The reports by Asianet News and MediaOne could “enhance communal disharmony across the country when the situation is highly volatile,” the ministry had said. However, within 24 hours the ban was lifted.