NBDSA Orders Aaj Tak, Times Now Navbharat, News 18 India to Remove Three Shows Which Promoted Hatred and Communal Disharmony

The News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA), led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice AK Sikri, has taken action against several television news programs for promoting hatred and communal disharmony.

Times Now Navbharat has been fined Rs 1 lakh, News 18 India has been fined Rs 50,000, and Aaj Tak has been issued a warning. All three channels have been instructed to remove the online versions of the programs within seven days.

These actions were prompted by complaints from activist Indrajeet Ghorpade regarding shows seen as communal and inflammatory.

Times Now Navbharat was penalised for targeting Muslims as a community and referring to inter-faith relationships as "love jihad."

News 18 India, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s group, was fined for three shows, two hosted by Aman Chopra and one by Amish Devgan, for communalising the Shraddha Walker murder case as an instance of "love jihad."

Aaj Tak, part of the India Today group, was warned for a show hosted by Sudhir Chaudhary, which generalised acts of violence during Ram Navami as targeting a particular community.

On the Times Navbharat programme on “love jihad”, the NBDSA observed, “On a perusal of the impugned broadcast, it appears that at the very beginning of the broadcast, the anchor has concluded that men from a certain community lured women from another community by hiding their religious identity and then committed violence or murders against such women and every such violence or murder committed on women of a certain community related to love jihad’.”

“This is evident from the questions raised and statements made by the anchor during the impugned broadcast. When some of the panellists expressed their concerns regarding the communal angle being given to such alleged incidents and regarding selective cases of violence against women where the perpetrator belonged to a particular community, the anchor shouted them down and did not allow them to express their views,” NBDSA ruled.

The NBDSA order stated, speaking of instances of inter-faith relationships, “some such instances should not lead to making generalised statements regarding inter-faith marriages by giving it a communal colour. Every citizen, from whichever religion, has a right to marry a person of his/her choice, irrespective of the religion to which he/she belongs.”

“Merely because a Hindu girl married a boy of another faith would not be tantamount to love jihad unless it is established that such a Hindu girl was duped or coerced into the marriage. Further, because of few incidents of such forced marriages, an entire community cannot be branded. Thus, it was not proper to generalise the incidents with the tickers such as “Love तो बहाना है … Hindu बेटियाँ निशाना हैं” Jihadiyon se Beti Bachao” it added.

The NBDSA also ordered Aaj Tak to remove a fictional video depicting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a robber. The NBDSA criticised the video and advised against airing it. It ordered Aaj Tak to remove the video from its channel, YouTube, and other online platforms.

"It would be appropriate for the broadcaster to remove the fictional video in the impugned broadcast, if still available on the website of the channel or YouTube, and remove all hyperlinks, including access, which should be confirmed to NBDSA in writing within seven days of the Order," the NBDSA directed.

The controversial video was aired during an episode of the show 'Black and White' on March 24, 2023. This broadcast followed Rahul Gandhi's conviction by a Surat court on March 23, 2023, for defamation due to his statement, "All thieves have Modi surname". Srinivas Bhadravathi Venkata, the National President of the Indian Youth Congress, filed a complaint with the NBDSA on March 31, 2023. He alleged that the video was initially shared on Aaj Tak's official Twitter account and later broadcast on the show 'Black and White', hosted by the channel's consulting editor.

Venkata alleged that the Aaj Tak anchor intentionally made a malicious comparison between Gandhi and someone accused and apprehended for robbery, despite knowing that Gandhi had been protesting against the actions of Nirav Modi and was demanding accountability from the Indian government. "While creating and publishing the said video, the anchor flagrantly violated journalism norms and ethics by callously publishing the said video, which wrongly depicted Mr Gandhi as someone accused of an offence of robbery," it was alleged.

The channel countered by stating that the anchor did not suggest in any way that Rahul Gandhi was convicted of a serious crime. The anchor also denied making malicious remarks about Gandhi or depicting him as a robbery suspect. Additionally, the channel clarified that the fictional story depicted in the video was not meant to reference anyone, including Rahul Gandhi. Aaj Tak also emphasised tweets from Priyanka Gandhi, where she questioned why Rahul Gandhi was being singled out for punishment while others were not. The channel argued that Priyanka Gandhi's tweets partially inspired the broadcast.

NBDSA observed that "though the anchor gave a different narrative to the tweets, it was admitted by both the parties the tweets made by Priyanka Gandhi were broadcast accurately by the broadcaster." Furthermore, NBDSA also noted that "the fictional video aired during the broadcast, including the story of the robber depicted in the broadcast and the imputation it carried with it concerning Rahul Gandhi's conviction, was not in good taste and should have been avoided."