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Tag: censure

  • MP assembly: Congress MLAs stage walkout against BBC censure motion

    MP assembly: Congress MLAs stage walkout against BBC censure motion

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    Bhopal: Congress MLAs on Tuesday walked out opposing a censure motion that the Madhya Pradesh assembly passed against the BBC for allegedly showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bad light in its documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    The House on Monday passed the censure motion against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) after it was introduced as a private member resolution. It came days after the Gujarat assembly passed a resolution requesting the Centre to take strict action against BBC for “tarnishing the image and popularity of PM Modi”.

    As the house convened on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Dr Govind Singh quoted news articles saying it was reported that the censure motion was approved “unanimously” by the House, though the Congress had not supported it.

    It is incorrect to say that the motion was approved unanimously as it was brought during “Zero Hour’ without prior notice, Singh said. Also, the motion was not brought before the House business committee for discussion, which he said was against democratic norms.

    The Opposition leader said that the Congress legislature party was opposing this censure motion.

    Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra, however, countered the charge saying most of the Congress MLAs, except for the party’s state chief Kamal Nath, were present when the motion against BBC was passed in the House. But the leader of opposition didn’t speak then, he said.

    Dr Singh claimed that he had opposed the censure motion at the time but it was not recorded. Some Congress MLAs, including Sajjan Singh Verma, also started speaking about the resolution related to the BBC documentary.

    With several members speaking together, the leader of the opposition announced that the Congress legislature party was staging a walkout against the motion.

    As the Congress members walked out, Speaker Girish Gautam clarified that the censure motion against BBC was passed with a voice vote and not “unanimously”.

    On Monday, the motion against the UK broadcaster was introduced as a private member resolution moved by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Shailendra Jain and seconded by minister Narottam Mishra.

    Before the motion was passed by voice vote, MLA Jain said the BBC had telecast an objectionable documentary by misinterpreting the 2002 Gujarat riots and portrayed then chief minister Narendra Modi in a bad light.

    He said the documentary had also cast aspersions on the country’s judiciary which amounts to contempt of court and added that the judiciary works independently and freely in India.

    Jain said the Central government should take action against the broadcaster.

    The speaker placed the resolution to test which was passed by a voice vote.

    The Gujarat assembly had on Friday passed a resolution requesting the Centre to take strict action against BBC for “tarnishing the image and popularity of PM Modi with the documentary”.

    A censure motion is an expression of strong disapproval. In Parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote.

    The MP assembly has 230 members 96 from the Congress and 127 from BJP besides four independents, two of BSP and one SP.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • MP Assembly passes ‘censure motion’ against BBC documentary on Modi

    MP Assembly passes ‘censure motion’ against BBC documentary on Modi

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    Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a ‘censure motion’ against a BBC documentary for allegedly showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bad light over the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    The motion was a private member resolution moved by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Shailendra Jain with the approval of the state’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Narottam Mishra. It was passed by a voice vote.

    With this, after Gujarat — the home state of PM Modi, Madhya Pradesh became the second BJP-ruled state to pass a ‘censor motion’ against the BBC.

    Notably, the Gujarat Assembly had on Friday passed a resolution requesting the Centre to take strict action against the BBC for tarnishing the image and popularity of PM Narendra Modi with the documentary.

    A censure motion is an expression of strong disapproval. In Parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote.

    Before the motion was passed by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly by voice vote on Monday, Jain said the BBC had telecast the objectionable documentary by misinterpreting the 2002 Gujarat riots and portraying the then chief minister Narendra Modi in a bad light.

    He said the documentary had also cast aspersions on the judiciary, which amounts to contempt of court, and added that the judiciary works independently and freely in India.

    He also mentioned that the Central government should not forgive the BBC and take action against the broadcaster.

    Speaker Girish Gautam placed the resolution to test, which was passed by a voice vote.

    The controversial two-part documentary by the BBC titled ‘India: The Modi Question’ claims to have probed certain aspects of the riots, which took place after the Godhra train burning incident, when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat.

    Notably, earlier in January, soon after its release, the government had issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.

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    #Assembly #passes #censure #motion #BBC #documentary #Modi

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • ‘Nothing will stop me’: Lewis Hamilton defiant in face of possible FIA censure

    ‘Nothing will stop me’: Lewis Hamilton defiant in face of possible FIA censure

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    Lewis Hamilton has defiantly insisted that he will not be prevented from expressing his opinions by the FIA.

    The British driver was unequivocal that he would not be silenced by Formula One’s governing body’s ban on drivers making political statements and intimated he would continue to do so even under the threat of sporting penalties.

    Hamilton was speaking at the launch of his team’s new Mercedes W14 car at Silverstone. As the sport’s most well-known global star and a seven-time F1 champion his stance, while expected, will still be a body blow to the FIA’s attempt to regulate what drivers say publicly.

    “Nothing will stop me from speaking on the things I am passionate about and the issues that there are,” he said. “I feel the sport does have a responsibility still, always to speak out on things, to create awareness on important topics particularly as we are travelling to all these different places. So nothing changes for me.”

    He was reacting for the first time to the FIA’s December decision in to adjust the regulations, banning drivers from making “political, religious or personal” statements or comments without permission.

    The issue has been highly contentious ever since, almost universally condemned by drivers who have objected to any restriction of their freedom of speech within the sport. F1 management have also rejected the proposal with the sport’s CEO, Stefano Domenicali, stating they would never “gag the drivers”.

    Hamilton accepted his defiance may prove costly in penalties, possibly including points deductions during the forthcoming season, but acknowledged that while that would not be welcome, it was a price he considered potentially worth paying.

    “It would be silly to say I would want to get penalty points for speaking out on things but I am still going to be speaking my mind,” he said. “We still have this platform, there are still a lot of things we need to tackle. The support of Stefano has been amazing and all the drivers have been very much aligned on freedom of speech.”

    Hamilton joins a swathe of drivers who have objected to the ruling, including the world champion, Max Verstappen, and McLaren’s Lando Norris, who said on Monday he would also potentially defy the rule even at the cost of fines being imposed.

    The FIA have offered no detail on what specific restrictions the regulation would apply to drivers but on Monday stated that they were going to issue guidance and clarity in the near future. However they are now facing concerted and apparently united driver opposition that appears steadfast in rejecting any restrictions on their freedom of speech.

    Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association which represents the F1 drivers, also expressed his discontent. “I’m not sure why the FIA have taken a stance like this, I think it’s totally unnecessary,” he said. “We are not going to limit our views or our thoughts because of some silly regulation.”

    Russell intimated that he was expecting a climbdown, stating that he hoped the FIA clarification would resolve the issue before the first race in Bahrain on 5 March.

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    Mercedes unveil ‘exciting’ new car for 2023 season after last year’s problems – video

    With the new season approaching and having underperformed in 2022 when the Mercedes was off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari, the team are optimistic that their new challenger, returning in a black livery for weight-saving purposes, will propel them toward the fray at the front of the grid.

    “I can’t remember being as excited to get in the car,” said Hamilton, now 38 and entering his 17th F1 season. “I feel reinvigorated, excited to work with the team. It’s great to see how focused everyone is, how pumped everyone is. It’s like Christmas, you’re just waiting to open your present.”

    Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes ends this year but the team principal, Toto Wolff, maintained that he expected the British driver to conclude a new deal to continue racing as the season progressed.

    He believes his driver is very much still at his peak. “He appears to me in great form, very positive, motivated, energised, maybe the best so far I have seen him in 10 years,” he said.

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    #stop #Lewis #Hamilton #defiant #face #FIA #censure
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )