Prasar Bharati to ‘probe’ Modi interview faux pas

• There was no deliberate editing or omission of any portion : Doordarshan
• "Shadow of government" is leading to lack of credibility: Prasar Bharati chief
• No govt interference in Doordarshan, says I&B Minister Manish Tewari

New Delhi: The decision on whether a probe is needed or not into the row surrounding an interview of BJP leader Narendra Modi by Doordarshan will be taken by Prasar Bharati on Monday. "We will look at papers on Monday and take a call," Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar told PTI when asked if the public broadcaster was planning to initiate an inquiry.

Prasar Bharati supervises the functioning of Doordarshan and the All India Radio. DD had on April 26 interviewed BJP's prime ministerial candidate Modi at Gandhinagar and then telecast it the next day. However, remarks made by Modi on Priyanka Gandhi and his claims of proximity with Ahmed Patel were edited out by DD, but became public through the social media, triggering a row.

Earlier, Jawhar Sircar, who heads Prasar Bharati, which manages Doordarshan, has said in a letter to Prasar Bharati board members that the "shadow of government" is leading to lack of credibility. He has also referred to Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari saying, "the young minister" didn't give the government broadcaster greater autonomy. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has come out strongly against allegations that an interview of Modi was censored.

"The autonomy of Parasar Bharati is guaranteed by the Parliament. Prasar Bharati is a board run organisation and the Information and Broadcast Ministry has an arms-length relationship with it," Tewari said. “If the Gujarat chief minister is concerned about press freedom in Prasar Bharati, we too are concerned about press freedom in Gujarat,” Tewari said. “In Gujarat, journalists were charged with sedition, were barred from entering the Assembly, and complained of harassment,” he added.