New Delhi: The TMC on Thursday expressed solidarity with the journalist fraternity on the issue of restricted access to Parliament and called for immediate restoration of all facilities to the media to cover the proceedings.
Expressing solidarity in a letter to the president and secretary of the Press Club of India, TMC mentioned: "The Chief Minister of Bengal and the Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee, along with the entire Trinamool Congress parliamentary party wish to express our complete solidarity with the journalist fraternity on the issue of restricted access to parliament." It further said that Parliament is the "heart of our democracy and reporting on it is a cherished democratic tradition". A free and robust media is the soul of parliamentary democracy. "Right to free speech, freedom of expression and thought are the foundations of a vibrant democracy," it added.
The party's Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien also made a scathing attack and said Parliament cannot be converted into a "closed chamber". He further appealed to the presiding officers of both Houses to rectify television coverage.
"All protests are censored on the TV and we demand this censorship to be stopped," O'Brien stated.
Another Upper House member Sushmita Dev claimed that only the close-up shots of Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman are being broadcasted along with the Union ministers and BJP MPs. Opposition members are not being shown during the live broadcast, instead of installation of 10 to 15 cameras of authorised 'Sansad TV'.
The party called for immediate restoration of all facilities to the journalists to cover Parliament so that the institution is strengthened.
"India ranks 142 in the World Press Freedom Index out of 180 countries. This is going further down. Even a couple of years ago, we were at 136, now at 142. Targeting victims such as physical abuse against journalists and prejudice is one of the other reasons for the decline in the world ranking index.
"Let's work together to ensure that in this the 75th year of our Independence, the free spirit of an independent media is not controlled in any manner," the party said in a statement.