By IANS
New Delhi : The broadcast tribunal will decide Thursday on a seven-day ban imposed by the information and broadcasting ministry on the Delhi-based Red FM radio station for airing an allegedly racist remark against the Gorkhas after Darjeeling boy Prashant Tamang was crowned ‘Indian Idol’ at a TV show last week.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi Tuesday made it clear that action will be taken against Red FM. The issue will be, however, decided upon by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, to which the ministry referred the case.
The ban will come into effect as soon as the TDSAT decides to enforce it.
Following a request from the West Bengal government, the ministry Saturday issued a show-cause notice to Red FM after concluding that it had prima facie violated the programme code by making pejorative remarks about the Gorkha community in one of its programmes.
The ministry referred the case to the TDSAT with a recommendation to ban the station for a week.
The show-cause notice came a day after a clash in Siliguri between fans of Tamang, winner of ‘Indian Idol’ talent hunt show broadcast on Sony TV, and local residents over a comment made about his community by radio jockey (RJ) Nitin in a programme on Sep 24.
Red FM tendered an apology Saturday and clarified that “we have not intentionally caused hurt to the sentiments of any person or any particular community, caste or creed.”