After the sale of NDTV, will there be opposition voices in the media?

A look at Indian news channels – whether in English or Hindi – shows that rather one-sided information prevails. And that side is the news from the BJP and Hindutva side.

When there is a televised debate, whether it is Indian-administered Kashmir, Pakistan or China or any news involving Muslims, almost every channel hears the same kind of talk. If the channel logo is not there or the presenters are not known, it becomes difficult to understand the debate of which channel you are watching.

In this situation, an exception was observed in NDTV.

There, presenters from the government side or representatives of the government party faced difficult questions. Difficult questions were raised about government policies.

The question has been raised whether the way NDTV presents voices of opposition or “voice of dissent” will continue in the future.

Questions arise because the change of owner of NDTV is only a formality.

A majority stake in chain promotion company RRPR Holdings has been bought by a company owned by the world’s third-richest man, industrialist Gautam Adani.

NDTV founder Prannoy Roy tried to block this share transfer, but was unable to. The stock exchange regulator ruled the transfer perfectly legal – no irregularities.

After that, Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy resigned from the holding company of NDTV two days ago. And on Wednesday, NDTV’s Hindi channel editor Ravish Kumar also quit.

Many people are asking on social media that after the sale of NDTV independent voices will no longer be heard on TV channels in India? The way they raised the voice of opposition to the government, will it be suppressed?

“I did not expect NDTV to be sold like this. What a formidable force, which will not let anyone else survive!” A university professor and social activist Afroza Khatun said.

NDTV began operations in the late 1980s with a weekly program on government television channel Doordarshan.

The program entitled “The World This Week” featured international news and current affairs analysis.

Their news, their presentations were the opposite of government television – international standards.

The program quickly became popular.

Then Mr. Prannoy Roy used to analyze the election results on this Doordarshan.

NDTV’s English and Hindi channels originated in the late 1990s.

“Dr. Roy himself has become an institution of Indian television journalism,” says Kaya Ghosh, a former journalist and now one of the spokespersons for the BJP in West Bengal.

Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhikar Roy have resigned from the company they started. But rather than the backlash of the duo’s departure from NDTV, there was a bigger backlash that Ravish Kumar, the editor of NDTV’s Hindi channel, resigned on Wednesday.

“One of the reasons for the kind of reaction we are seeing after Ravish Kumar resigned is that he was presenting programs in Hindi. He was not just an editor or presenter of NDTV for the public. He has a huge fan base in Hindi. There was a space for him to speak freely on the show, which is no longer,” said veteran journalist and political observer Shikha Mukherjee.

The journalism of NDTV and Ravish Kumar is understandably frowned upon by the BJP and other Hindutva organizations. They believe that NDTV journalism is mostly anti-BJP activism and some information is false.

Kaya Ghosh, one of the spokespersons for the BJP in West Bengal, said, “I am part of the generation that grew up watching NDTV’s The World This Week. As I said earlier, Dr Roy itself is a journalism institution. But later NDTV started doing one-sided and in some cases fake news. It was as if they had made a bet that their job would be to present news for Congress, against the BJP.

“Even if Narendra Modi does something good, it will be bad, and if he does something bad, it will be bad. It is as if it has become their goal to oppose the BJP. if not can I say if it is not activism?” Question from Kaya Ghosh.

Industrialist Gautam Adani, however, said in an interview with the Financial Times that he wanted to see NDTV as an independent channel after the way to buy NDTV was cleared.

In his words, “Why can’t a news media take an independent stance and be established on the world map? India doesn’t have organizations like the Financial Times or Al Jazeera.”

He also assured that freedom of the press means that if the government does something wrong, it must be called wrong, but if the government does something right, it must also have the courage to admit it.