Nation comes first: BJP on NDTV India ban

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday supported the government’s decision to ban news channel NDTV India for a day, saying the nation comes first and there cannot be any compromise with national security. “We support the freedom of press in a democracy. But nation comes first and there cannot be any compromise with national security,” the party’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. The one-day ban over the channel’s coverage of Pathankot terror attack drew sharp condemnation from Opposition parties and media bodies which called it “shocking and authoritarian” and reminiscent of Emergency days. The leaders of the non-BJP parties and the media bodies also demanded immediate withdrawal of the order imposing the blackout on November 9.