Agartala, Oct 2; GANASHAKTI: The registration of 'Daily Desher Katha', a mouthpiece of the Tripura CPI(M), has been cancelled by RNI triggering angry reactions from the party's senior leaders.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the action of the BJP state government of Tripura in cancelling the registration of Daily Desharkatha, a progressive newspaper.
In a letter on Monday, the Registrar of Newspapers in India (RNI) said the publication was being suspended based on a verdict passed by the district magistrate of West Tripura, Sandeep Mahatme.
Talking to the press here Tuesday, CPI (M) central committee member Gautam Das said the move by RNI was "totally illegal, politically motivated and anti-democratic". Das, who had served as the editor of the newspaper for over 40 years, said, "The CPI (M) had a weekly newspaper titled 'Desher Katha' in the sixties and seventies. It was upgraded to a daily in 1979 following all procedures." The veteran leader relinquished the editorship of the newspaper in 2015. "In 2012, when I was still the editor, the ownership of the paper was transferred from the party to a duly constituted Society, under Society Registration Act-1860. It changed hands again this year as a newly formed trust took over the paper and CPI(M) member Samir Paul was appointed the printer and editor," he said. Das, however, asserted that no norms were flouted during the transfer of ownership.
"The party and the owner would move the Supreme Court against the RNI's move," he added.
