United News of India (UNI) on Sunday shut down temporarily its English and Kannada news services and other operations in Karnataka to protest against the harassment and ‘Attack on the Press’ by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
The action has been taken following the BBMP giving constant threats that the news agency will be evicted from UNI Building in Vasanthnagar in the the city saying that the lease period of the land on which UNI had buit the building had ended.
If news agency refused to vacate on its own it will be evicted, a top BBMP official who visited the office informed the local in-charge of UNI, Bangalore.
The UNI building in Bengaluru was inaugurated by late President of India Gyani Zail Singh in 1986.
Though, the news agency had been constantly requesting the BBMP to renew the lease agreement of the land that ended in 2013, since 2010, the BBMP had not acted to support the national news agency.
Instead, the BBMP officials started harassing the local officials of the UNI and its staff that they will be thrown out, without giving a proper notice or any Government Order that they claimed in their support.
In the wake of recent developments, the UNI management decided to temporarily halt the news service from Karnataka to protest against the attitude of the ’anti Press’ BBMP officials.
Incidentally the news agency had, during December 2018, launched UNI Kannada News Wire Service, a first such attempt by a national News Agency in the country to serve Kannada Print and Visual Media, besides the State and Union Governments.
Despite several representations given to the Karnataka Government, including the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and other senior ministers, the requests went in vein.
