The Indian government’s banning spree refuses to die down. The latest ban issued, is on Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced that the channel will be suspended from broadcasting from April 22nd to April 27th for showing an incorrect map of India in 2013 and 2014. The maps used were devoid of certain parts on India’s boundaries, thus violating the broadcasting laws of the country.
The Surveyor General of India said that “a portion of Indian territory has not been shown as a part of India in some of the maps while the territorial boundary of India is not shown with clarity and proper shape in another map. The channel also did not show Lakshadweep and Andaman Islands in some of the maps.”
The channel responded by admitting that they committed “cartographic aggression” and were worthy of a “deterrent punishment for its misdemeanour”. The channel also claimed that they received the maps from an “internationally-known software used by global news reporters”.
This is not the first time that a channel has faced negative scrutiny from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Channels like NDTV Good Times, Jai Hind and TLC have previously been suspended from airing for broadcasting obscene content and uncensored crass language. However, the most famous case is the recent banning of BBC’s India’s Daughter, a documentary on the Nirbhaya gang rape. The ban questioned the government’s beliefs towards India’s democratic and constitutional society.
This story originally appeared on The Independent UK.
