London: The British authorities has strongly defended the BBC and its editorial freedom in Parliament after the Income-Tax division’s survey operations on the UK-based broadcaster’s New Delhi and Mumbai workplaces over three days final week. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) junior minister responded to an pressing query raised in the House of Commons on Tuesday to say that the federal government can not remark on the allegations made by the I-T division over an ‘ongoing investigation’ however harassed that media freedom and freedom of speech are important parts of ‘robust democracies.’
David Rutley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of the FCDO, pointed to a ‘broad and deep relationship’ with India which meant the UK was in a position to focus on a variety of points in a “constructive manner”. “We stand up for the BBC. We fund the BBC. We think the BBC World Service is vital. We want the BBC to have that editorial freedom,” stated Rutley.
“It criticises us (government), it criticises the (Opposition) Labour party, and it has that freedom that we believe is so important. That freedom is key, and we want to be able to communicate its importance to our friends across the world, including the government in India,” he stated.
Updating the Commons on the problem, the minister stated India’s I-T division performed what has been described as a survey on the BBC’s workplaces in New Delhi and Mumbai, starting on February 14 and ending after three days, on February 16.
Highlighting that the BBC is “operationally and editorially independent,” the minister stated the general public broadcaster performs an necessary position and the FCDO funds companies in 12 languages, together with 4 Indian languages: Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu. “It will proceed to take action, as a result of you will need to be certain that our voice, and an unbiased voice, by way of the BBC , is heard all through the world,” he stated.
Pressed on by Opposition MPs on the “deeply worrying raids” and requested about discussions with the Indian authorities, the minister added: “It is because of our broad and deep relationship with India that we are able to discuss a wide range of issues in a constructive manner with its government. As part of those conversations, this issue has been raised and we continue to monitor the situation.”
The pressing query was raised by Northern Ireland MP Jim Shannon, who branded the motion a “deliberate act of intimidation following the discharge of an unflattering documentary in regards to the nation’s chief? and sharply criticised the UK authorities for failing to make a press release on the problem.
British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi expressed his considerations that “India, a nation with which we’ve got shared values of democracy and press freedoms, determined to conduct a raid on the BBC workplaces after the airing of a documentary crucial of the Indian Prime Minister’s actions,”. “These issues have absolutely been raised as part of those conversations,” the minister responded.
Other Labour MPs identified that it was not the primary time that the authorities in India had undertaken such “investigations into media organisations which might be crucial of the present authorities.”
“We need to ensure that our views on media freedom are communicated clearly with other governments. We have those conversations not only with the government of India, but across the world. We think these are very important principles and, as I said, they are essential elements for robust democracies,” the minister stated.
The minister, nevertheless, declined to remark on “an ongoing investigation that the BBC is actively engaged in.” The I-T division stated in a press release following the survey that the revenue and income disclosed by the organisation’s items have been “not commensurate with the scale of operations in India”.
