Commenting on the blacking out of two news channels in Uttar Pradesh a few days after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav openly attacked the media for its "negative coverage of Saifai Mahotsav", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said his party condemns the move.
"We condemn the ban imposed on several channels in UP. In a democracy, the freedom of the press is one of the most crucial factors, but Akhilesh's government is not ready to take criticism. He should allow the press to have free play in the state," said Javadekar.
BJP leader Vijay Pathak said the Saifai Mahotsav is the responsibility of the UP Government, and that it was their responsibility to take care of the riot victims of Muzaffarabad.
"The Saifai Mahotsav is their responsibility, and they cannot ban the media from showing what is happening. Our work is to question and they have to answer," said Pathak.
"He is the CM, and it is his responsibility to take care. If someone questions him, he has to be in a position to answer. Earlier, he had said that an amount of Rs. seven crores was spent on the Mahotsav, and now, he is saying that about a crore was spent. They should come out clean in this regard," he added.
On Saturday, two news channels - Times Now and India News - were unplugged by cable operators in Uttar Pradesh.
There was no official word on what led to the blacking out of the channels, but a few cable operators confessed that they were acting on an informal government orders, according to reports.
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The UP government has been under severe attack from the media for holding a grand and expensive carnival at Saifai, at a time when thousands of riot-affected poor people have been suffering in Muzaffarnagar.
They were also severely criticized by riot victims of Muzaffarnagar.
Hafiz Mohammad Parvez, a riot victim, had said: "We can see how nicely our chief minister is spending the time, in leisure, air conditioned rooms, and here, people are living in a bad shape. It seems that we had voted for him so that he could ruin us. Today, he doesn't even have the time to visit the camps to see how his people are living here, what we need. They just say one thing, that vacate the area, but how can we when the people who murdered our brothers are still roaming around out in the open, no action was taken against those people."
A distressed woman living in the camps, Nafeesa, said she had lost her child due biting cold wave conditions, while many other children had fallen sick due to unhygienic surroundings and lack of supplies.
When asked whether the money politicians spent on going abroad on tours could have been used to help the riot victims, she said: "Yes, we would have had a little relief. They are doing things for themselves only, they have not done anything for us, and we were and still are in a lot of problems here. We have little children, some are sick also; some are getting pneumonia, fever. Our tents get wet with dew and keep dripping the whole night, children sick because of that."
Another riot victim, Tahir, said: "Till date the government has not sent any help for us, they sent us one glass of milk for 24 hours. Families, which have 10 children, how are they going to manage with one glass of milk? We have left out houses and come here, and the people who had killed people, walked free after a few days, they are roaming around free. How can we go back in such a case? Wouldn't we feel scared? They say the law will punish them but where is it happening? Why would we go back to get killed?"
The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) organises the "Saifai Mahotsav" every year in the ancestral village of party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, to commemorate the memory of his deceased nephew.
Several Bollywood actors including Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh performed at the event and seemed delighted with the arrangements made for them.
The grand finale ceremony of the 15th annual festival, which began on December 26, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.