Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has filed a complaint with the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) on December 1, 2020, in connection with a highly communal show called Conversion Jihad alleging forceful conversion of Hindus by Muslims. This complaint is against News Nation, a television news channel, for their show that was broadcast not only on the channel, but also uploaded to its various social media profiles.
As per protocol of the NBSA complaint guidelines, CJP had first written to the broadcaster, News Nation, on November 12, 2020. But having received no response from them so far, CJP moved NBSA for appropriate action.
The show up for public viewing on November 6, reported that one Memchand alleged that he and his entire family were forced to convert to Islam by Tabhligi Jamaat members. Deepak Chaurasia, who was the anchor of the show, openly claimed that there is a conspiracy by ‘one gang’ to do away with all ‘Hindus of Hindustan’.
The complaint mentions how Mr. Chaurasia called one Maulana Syed ul Qadri and forced him to tender an apology on behalf of the entire Muslim Community. He also insulted him on air and called him a Jhoot ki Factory (factory of lies). The complaint to NBSA further cites instances of how the host encouraged hate speech against Muslims by calling anti-minority propagandists.
The complaint states that there is a constant attempt to promote Islamophobic ideas where the Jamaat is responsible for leading people to indulge in anti-religious and anti-national activities. It states that a few clips from the television show that were uploaded to Twitter received thousands of likes and retweets, encouraging such hate to be openly sold and causing ill will against the minority community of India.
The complaint to NBSA also notes the important orders of the Supreme Court and Bombay High Court have observed that in a democracy, committed to the rule of law under a regime of constitutional rights, values and duties, an attempt to vilify a religious community must be viewed with grave disfavour as custodians of Constitutional values.
The complaint by CJP lists down the violation of various NBSA principles and guidelines, Specific guidelines covering reportage and Indian Penal Code sections. Further, the complaint urges the Authority to take strict action against such people who act against national integration and violate the fundamental tenets and values enshrined in the Constitution of India.
The complaint states, “Free Speech is not Hate Speech, Hon’ble Sir as the latter often misuses positions of power and privilege to further marginalise and stigmatise a section that is structurally, socially and politically disadvantaged. Unchecked proliferation of such telecasts by the electronic media have the deleterious impact of mis informing and prejudicing public discourse, often as a precursor to social ostracization and even violence.”
The entire complaint dated December 1 may be read here:
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