NBDSA asks News18 to pull down 2023 interview of Bageshwar Dham: Read how the media body headed by a former SC judge has been passing anti-Hindu orders

In 2023, the NBDSA issued notices against 5 shows by News18's Aman Chopra and alleged that the anchor instigated communal hatred by 'deliberately' targeting the Muslim community

The News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) on Thursday (7th November) asked News 18 media to take down an exclusive interview of Hindu spiritual leader Bageshwar Dham Sarkar (also known as Dhirendra Krishna Shastri) that was shared on their platform in July 2023. NBDSA stated that they had sought a response from News 18 based on a complaint from one Pune-based techie Indrajeet Ghorpade, and the channel has failed to respond within a stipulated time period.

The complainant mentioned that in the interview, Bageshwar Baba promoted his supernatural powers and the channel allowed it to be shared, breaking the regulations of news broadcasting and digital standards. The complaint also alleged that Shastri promoted the idea of Hindu Rashtra and the love jihad “conspiracy”. As per the reports, Ghorpade who is an activist has earlier filed several complaints against the channel.

Following this, the NBDSA stated that Shastri promoted superstition during the interview and that his statements concerning Hindu Rashtra were divisive in nature. “The seer who was invited by the broadcaster made several claims during the broadcast, which promoted superstition. Furthermore, during the broadcast, several statements were made by the seer concerning Hindu Rashtra and religion, which were divisive in nature, such as that in order to live in India it would be mandatory to say ‘Sita Ram’ and that Islam asked men to trap young Hindu girls in love jihad and then kill them,” the NBDSA headed by former SC judge AK Sikri said.

It added that the response of News 18, claiming that what Dhirendra Shastri said was his own personal views and not the views of the channel, was not satisfactory. It mentioned that Shastri mentioned several instances of his alleged ‘supernatural powers’, promoting superstition and occult practices, like finding lost cattle and jewels of people, and making religious proclamations that were divisive in nature.

As per the original NBDSA order obtained by OpIndia, the show violated the principles of Self-regulation which enjoins the broadcasters to refrain from advocating or encouraging superstition and occultism. The complainant stated that Shastri during the interview claimed that he had superpowers and that he could find missing animals, and diamonds using his powers.

The broadcaster responded to the allegation stating that it was a live interview and Bageshwar Dham Sarkar chose to answer questions referring to his personal life and ‘experiences’. It further added that the channel in no way would be responsible for such statements. Further, it added that Bageshwar Dham Sarkar clarified that he had no magic and that his predictions are to be taken as indicative and not as ultimate truth.

However, the NBDSA observed that the program caused harm to the religious harmony between the communities and promoted superstition, occultism, and blind belief. “Such programs should not be broadcast,” it added.

Previous complaint by Ghorpade against News18 against ‘love jihad’ show

It is important to note that this is not the first time that the Pune-based activist techie has filed a complaint against News18. Ghorpade had dragged News18 and its anchor Aman Chopra in the year 2022 as well when the latter reported several incidents of love jihad during Navratri and Garba celebrations. Aman Chopra’s show at that time ‘Desh nahi Jhukne Dunga’ had reported about Muslim men allegedly beaten by local Hindu groups for entering into garba pandals by hiding their original identities. The men were then identified and handed to the police who booked them in three separate cases in Ahmedabad, Indore, and Akola.

In the complaint against News18, the activist said that the anchor made the following tickers, “Garba mein ghusne se pehle pehchan patra dikhana hoga par uska virodh ho raha tha, ki kagaz nahi dikhayenge, garba mein jayenge. 7 logo pe FIR, Akola mein bhi Ahmedabad mein bhi Indore mein bhi, aur fir kehte hai Kagaz nahi dikhayenge. Khabar kya hai? Garbe mein ladkiyon ki photo lene par pitai, pakde gaye sabhi 4 yuwak vishes samuday ke, Ahmedabad mein 2 Muslimon ki pitai.” “These were repeated by the anchor which portrayed the entire Muslim community as demons,” the complainant added.

Denying the said allegations, the News18 media broadcaster then had explained that the challenged program ‘Desh Nahi Jhukne Dunga’ was based on viral videos of three incidents showing certain individuals being beaten for deceptively attending Garba celebrations to record videos of women without their consent. In one of the cities, an FIR was also filed against such individuals. The broadcaster argued that these incidents were newsworthy, given allegations that some people were concealing or misrepresenting their identities to gain entry to the Garba events. The broadcaster also clarified that the program did not condone violence.

The broadcaster further noted that other TV news channels had also aired the viral videos, and the incidents were also given wide coverage by various newspapers. It explained that the challenged program also raised the question of whether it was inappropriate for members of the Muslim community to attend Garba celebrations and why some individuals were entering the event using falsified documents.

Given this context, the media platform questioned how the program could be viewed as communal or as promoting hate, as alleged by the complainant. The broadcaster pointed out that the incident involving seven individuals allegedly entering Garba festivities in Indore by concealing their identities was breaking news at the time.

In response to one of such incidents in Indore, the then Culture Minister of Madhya Pradesh had stated that Garbas had become a medium for “Love Jihad.” Additionally, the broadcaster, News18 in the year 2022 mentioned that the demand for identity verification prior to attending Garba celebrations was raised by local committees to ensure the safety of women and to maintain law and order.

The NBDSA, however, at that time also observed that the challenged broadcast was a news report on viral videos from Ahmedabad, Indore, and Akola, showing certain individuals being physically assaulted for just attending Garba celebrations. While NBDSA acknowledged that the broadcaster had merely reported on these incidents as they occurred in those cities, it noted that the tickers used during the interview gave a ‘communal tone’ to the broadcast. “These phrases created an impression that men from a specific community were miscreants or criminals aiming to deceive or harm women of another community,” the NBDSA said deciding to caution the broadcaster against using such language in future broadcasts.

Love Jihad downplayed by Islamist supporters, termed it as conspiracy

It is crucial to note that incidents of Love jihad have been downplayed by leftists and their supporters giving a clean chit to the Islamists who deliberately trap Hindu women into love affairs and then force them to convert their religion. The leftists Islamists and their supporters consider Love Jihad a hoax and usually term it a conspiracy. However, OpIndia has reported several such cases from across the country with relevant evidence and legal reports exposing the sickening mentality of the Islamist community. During the NIA raids on the banned terrorist organization PFI, the authorities also recovered several incriminating documents in which specific mentions of Love jihad were made. The Islamists had made calls to the Muslim community asking them to trap Hindu women and convert them. Monetary rewards for doing the same were also announced. However, the Centre imposed a ban on the terrorist outfit in the year 2022.

In the given case also, Pune-based activist Ghorpade downplayed the incidents of Love Jihad and called it a conspiracy. He, in his complaint against New18 in the year 2022 stated that the latter was trying to allegedly spread hatred in the society by ‘demonizing’ the entire Muslim community. Ignoring the safety concern of the women attending Garba, and the fact that the Muslims had hidden their original identity to enter Garba pandals, Ghorpade stated that the channel glorified the assault over the Muslim men in Indore, Ahmedabad, and Akola respectively. He said that Shastri also during the interview with News18 recently promoted the idea of Hindu Rashtra and the love jihad “conspiracy”. Following this, the NBDSA directed the media to take down the interview from all its platforms.

Five shows of News18 were issued notice by the NBDSA in 2022 accusing it of spreading ‘communal hatred’

In 2023, the NBDSA issued notices against 5 shows by News18’s Aman Chopra and alleged that the anchor instigated communal hatred by ‘deliberately’ targeting the Muslim community. “Chopra targeted, vilified, and castigated the entire Muslim community for the actions of a few miscreants and gave an incident a communal tilt,” the NBDSA had said as it fined Rs 25,000 to News18.

One show aired on 4th October 2022, in which Chopra, as per the complainant, termed police action of caning against the accused Muslims as ‘Dandiya’. The Muslims in Kheda, Gujarat. The accused Muslims had reportedly attacked the garba event after which police resorted to caning. The second show aired on September 29th, 2022 where Chopra allegedly reported about the Muslims barging into the garba events in Ahmedabad, Indore, and Akola. The complaint stated that the anchor allegedly portrayed all Muslim men as criminals trying to deceive Hindu women.

The third show by News18 was aired on 5th August where the channel reported about sharp rise in the Muslim population in border areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bangladesh. The complainant then complained that the show and the channel tried to portray all Muslims as intruders. Interestingly, all the above three complaints were also filed by Pune-based activist Ghorpade.

The fourth show aired on January 18th, 2022 when the channel reported about UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s ’80-20′ comments. This time the complaint was filed by the Citizens for Justice and Peace and one Anuj Dubey who said that Chopra’s reporting was biased and partial. As per them, Chopra used statements like “20 were ganging up against 80 who were Hindus.” News18 India was fined Rs 50,000 and ordered to remove videos of the broadcast. 

The fifth show that was challenged aired on July 28th, 2022, and was about the murder of Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada. As stated by the NIA, Praveen Nettaru was murdered by the PFI ‘killer squad’ to create terror in the Hindu community and establish Islamic Rule by 2047. Based on the complaint filed by one Utkarsh Mishra, the NBDSA stated that Chopra, rather than holding a few miscreants accountable for the murders and violence, actually attributed the violence to the religion itself.

NBDSA favors minority to portray its anti-Hindu stance?

It is further important to note that the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has also allegedly been posing an anti-Hindu, anti-India stance. It has issued similar orders in the past too, sometimes downplaying the hijab issue or issue of religious conversion. It has evidently been siding by the minority community and issuing orders to several media houses whenever the latter attempted to expose the real faces of the Islamists.

1. Notice against News Nation for airing show on ‘conversion jihad’

1. In 2021, the NBDSA issued a notice against another media channel named ‘News Nation’ for airing a show about ‘Conversion Jihad’. An NGO called CJP (Citizens for Justice and Peace) had lodged a complaint with NBSDA taking umbrage to the “Conversion Jihad” show by News Nation TV, anchored by Deepak Chaurasia. The complaint said that the anchor called one Maulana Syed Ul Qadri a ‘factory of lies’ and made him apologize on behalf of the entire Muslim community.

The complaint also said that there was an “attempt” to promote “Islamophobic” ideas during the show and that some of its clips on Twitter, which received thousands of likes and retweets promoted hate against the Muslim community. The NGO claimed that such programs must not be aired as they may hurt the “composite and diverse” culture of India and that it may lead to violence.

News Nation TV had in turn said that the channel or the anchor cannot be held responsible for statements made by the guests in the program, but, had tendered an unconditional apology if the statements had hurt anyone. The NBDSA had ordered for the show to be deleted upholding the notion that any harsh reality being discussed in the media amounts to “Islamophobia”.

Conversion Jihad is a reality that the mainstream media, the organizations that govern the media, and the political class, on the whole, want to push under the rug. There are hundreds of cases where Hindu women have been forcefully converted to Islam either by deceit or force. There are other cases where Hindu women are even brutally murdered and/or raped when they find out the real identity of the perpetrator and refuse to convert to Islam. OpIndia has time and again reported several such cases from across India with legal pieces of evidence. All such reports can be read here and here.

2. Notice against Times Now Navbharat for airing show featuring love jihad

On June 3rd, 2023, activist Indrajeet Ghorpade had filed a complaint with Times Now Navbharat, raising concerns about the tickers and headlines displayed during the show, which he argued promoted ‘demonization and hatred against the Muslim community’. The show named ‘Love to banana hai, Hindu betiyan nishana hai’ talked about love jihad and the modus operandi of how Islamists trap Hindu women and then force them to convert to their religion. Ghorpade alleged that numerous generalized statements targeting the Muslim community were made without any factual basis. He also said that the murder of Shraddha Walker was repeatedly presented with a ‘communal slant, casting Muslim men in a suspicious light’.

“Shraddha Walker was incorrectly cited as an example of Love Jihad. Further, during the broadcast false generalized statements were made to target Muslim men, by stating, ‘Kyun har jageh, Hindu naam rakh ke ek Hindu ladko fasane ka kyun aata hai saamne ye bataiye? Aisa kyun hai ki jo ladki fasti hai woh Hindu hai aur jo ladka maarta hai woh Muslim nikalta hai baad mein? Kyun dhoka diya jata hai iss tarah se?’ Another panelist baselessly claimed that this is an organized crime against our (Hindu) women,” the complaint read.

NBDSA then imposed a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on Times Now Navbharat. It observed that several Muslims married Hindu girls, however the same did not warrant for news anchors to make generalized statements.

The order stated, “Some such instances should not lead to making generalized statements regarding inter-faith marriages by giving it a communal color. 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 generalize the incidents with the tickers such as ‘Love to banana hai, Hindu betiyan nishana hai’ Jihadiyon se Beti Bachao.”

3. Notice against Aaj Tak and its show ‘Black and White’ by Sudhir Chaudhary

This specific complaint was recently filed by activist Indrajeet Ghorpade, this time against the ‘Black and White’ show, hosted by Sudhir Chaudhary and aired on Aaj Tak. In the complaint, Ghorpade alleged that the anchor made false statements aimed to incite hatred and fear against the Muslim community. He wrote that “the broadcasters ignored the widespread discrimination faced by Dalits and Muslims, opting instead to air a show that portrayed Muslims as rioters and labeled Muslim areas as ‘mini-Pakistan.'”

The show by Chaudhary notably reported on the Islamist violence in Nalanda district of Bihar during Ram Navami celebrations in March 2023. As reported, a religious mob in Nalanda set fire to Hindu shops and their warehouses, causing extensive damage. Chaudhary while reporting stated that Islamists aimed at making India an Islamic country. “Today they have Muslim area, tomorrow they might want Muslim Bharat. Have you ever heard of Hindu area, Sikh area, Parsi area?” Chaudhary reported.

Complaining against this, Ghorpade stated that “the anchor failed to mention that a mosque was burnt down in Nalanda, Bihar, that Muslim shops and houses around the mosque were also burnt down and that the cops did not arrive for several hours while the burning was taking place, and when they did arrive, they misbehaved with Muslim women and looted the houses. The anchor kept blaming Muslims for the violence.”

The complainant stated that, throughout India, areas are often segregated by caste and religion. A simple search on Google Maps for terms like Jain Colony, Hindu Colony, Sindhi Camp, Brahman Colony, or Parsi Colony reveals numerous such locations. Even when areas are not explicitly named after a specific religion or caste, ghettoization remains widespread across the country.

The NBDSA noted that there would have been no issue with the broadcast if it had limited its focus to analyzing incidents of communal violence. However, by displaying tickers like “Aaj Muslim ilaake, Kal Muslim Bharat,” “Aaj ilaaka, kal zilla, parso desh,” and “Aapne kabhi Sikh ya Parsi ilaaka suna hai” during the program, the broadcast took on a very different tone.

Similar directives against Aaj Tak

Apart from these three orders, the NBDSA issued similar directives to several other media houses schooling them on ethics and impartial stance. Another episode of the ‘Black and White’ show, hosted by Sudhir Chaudhary that covered former US President Barack Obama’s remarks on minority protections in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US was taken cognizance of by the NBDSA. The NBDSA found that beyond violating the principles of ‘Objectivity and Neutrality’, the broadcast also breached the Specific Guidelines for Anchors, which require that “all programs must be presented in an impartial, objective, and neutral manner.”

Conclusion

The NBDSA is an ‘independent’ body established by the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA), which represents private television news, current affairs, and digital broadcasters. It identifies itself as the collective voice of news, current affairs, and digital broadcasters in India and is fully funded by its members. NBDA is one of the two major broadcast media federations, the other being the News Broadcasters Federation headed by Arnab Goswami.

NBDSA claims that its goal is to safeguard its members from engaging in unfair or unethical practices and to uphold the credibility of television news broadcasters, digital news media, and other related entities. Currently, the body is headed by former SC judge AK Sikri.

However, it has time and again been slamming notices to media houses that attempt to expose the sickening mindset of the Islamists. It has issued media houses for airing shows on love jihad, conversion jihad, hijab issues, Islamist violence, etc, ultimately downplaying the severity of these issues faced by the majority Hindu community. The Islamists target Hindu women, force them to convert to their religion, attack Hindu festivals, and create violence, they practice jihad (war) against the community with an aim to make India an Islamic nation by 2047. Very recently, the Islamsits (different from the entire Muslim community) have began practicing ‘thook’ and ‘unrine’ jihad where they contaminate the food being served to the customers. Several such incidents have also been recently reported by OpIndia.

It seems difficult to believe but Islamists have a unique agenda to fulfill and that is to make India an Islamic Nation by the year 2047, the year when India would complete 100 years of independence. Several proofs exposing the same have been gathered by the NIA during the raids on terrorist outfit PFI hideouts. Despite this, the media houses allegedly targeted for reporting the truth look concerning and almost like an deliberate act. The authorities involved need to thoroughly verify the incidents, ground realities, and concerns of the surviving majority community in India as well before allegedly giving clean chit to Islamists almost every time.

Further, in an attempt to ‘protect’ the minorities, the authorities allegedly ignore the seriousness of issues like love jihad, conversions, and Islamist violence, further allegedly doing injustice against the majority population of the country. The media should be impartial and ethical in reporting issues, definitely yes! But isn’t it the primary responsibility of the media to show the truth to society and make them aware of the realities? Reportedly, no action is taken against media houses or digital publishers when they attempt to allegedly shield minority people accused of various crimes. Is that what ‘ethics’ looks like? Is that what ‘journalism’ looks like?

In many of the cases mentioned above, several broadcasters allegedly targeted and schooled by the NBDSA based on the complaints from alleged leftist, Islamist supporters clarified that they were reporting what was already out in the public domain or that the opinions expressed during the shows by the studio guests if any were their personal, but to no avail. They also mentioned that in several of the cases like Muslims caught in garba events, police action had been taken and that FIRs had been booked, therefore the credibility could not be doubted. But eventually, the media houses were ordered to take down the reports, accusing them of allegedly portraying the Muslim community as ‘demons’.

In the given case also, the News18 media house has been asked to take down its exclusive interview with Hindu spiritual leader Bageshwar Dham Sarkar (also known as Dhirendra Krishna Shastri).