On its website , the CPI(M) released a press brief, in which it has strongly condemned the action of DD and AIR. Here is the text of the statement:
''Tuesday, August 15, 2017
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the refusal by the Doordarshan and All India Radio to broadcast the customary Independence Day address of Manik Sarkar, Chief Minister of Tripura.
The Doordarshan and All India Radio had recorded his speech for the occasion. However, they subsequently informed him that the speech cannot be carried as it is and asked him to “reshape” it.
This is a gross infringement on the right of a Chief Minister to address the people of his state on Independence Day. This act is reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected Chief Minister of a state. The Central Government is trampling upon the autonomy of Doordarshan/AIR and Prasar Bharati by such acts of censorship.
The Polit Bureau demands action against those responsible for prohibiting the broadcast. The Modi Government should stop treating the Prasar Bharati as a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.''
The party took to Twitter to vent out its ire on the occasion. It also shared the text of the speech that Manik Sarkar was supposed to deliver.
The party also shared the response of the broadcasting unit that censored the speech of the Chief Minister, on Twitter. In the response it was clearly stated that the speech could not be broadcast because it had ''unsuitable''content and the CM was asked to reshape the speech making it suitable for the ''solemnity'' of the occasion.
In a series of tweets, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury questioned the ''undeclared emergency'' by the NDA government.