Mumbai: Arnab Goswami is fighting back. Like he probably has never done before. Yesterday, he reached out Republic TV and Republic Bharat viewers imploring them to not allow the Shv Cable Sena’s order to cable TV operators to stop carrying both the channels on their networks. Said Arnab Goswami: “Our journalism is for the people, our reporting is for your right to know and our channel reports for the nation. They are trying to block us from reaching you. They can't block us, you the people of India won't let them. Join us in this fight, support us in this fight, we need your support."
He has asked viewers to sign a “Can’t block Republic” online.
Arnab Goswami further highlighted: “We have refused to cow down when they try to gag us. We have refused to reveal our sources even when they have put our reporter Anuj and our crew in jail for three days. And today we refuse to bow down just because they are issuing threats to cable operators in Maharashtra to block our channel Republic Bharat, and our network. This is an attack and an attempt to plunder the fourth pillar of democracy. the Shiv Sena wants us to squirm before them, they want to snatch our fundamental right to report. Under Article 19(1)A of the Constitution of India, Uddhav Thackeray, you have no right to do this. Our coverage speaks truth to power. The people of India did not stand for Emergency in 1975, and they will not stand for what the Sonia Sena is doing right now.”
Earlier, in the day, the channel won a part reprieve from the Mumbai high court when it held that “the (...) Shiv Cable Sena is not a statutory authority to either supersede the license granted to the petitioners or to interfere in the contractual/statutory relationship between the petitioners and the cable network operators. The communication issued by it has, therefore, no effect in law.”
But the court did not heed ARG Outliers’ appeal for the court to intervene and direct cable TV operators not to take the two channels off the air. While the government’s counsel said that the Shiv Cable Sena was an independent private entity from the Shiv Sena, ARG’s counsel said that how much ever it would have liked to place its appeal before the Telecom Disputes Appellate Tribunal, it could not do so as it was in recess and would restart only after 18 September.
The Mumbai high court further added that the there was no evidence that cable TV operators had taken down the channels, and even if they do, it need not be solely because the of Shiv Cable Sena’s threatening messaging.
