[Reporting on Tablighi Jamaat] NBSA imposes 1 lakh fine on News18 Kannada for inciting religious hatred, Rs. 50,000 on Suvarna News

The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) imposed Rs. 1 lakh fine on News18 Kannada and Rs. 50,000 on Suvarna News for their reporting of the Tablighi Jamaat incident of March 2020.The NBSA also censured English news channel Times Now for the same..The Tablighi Jamaat incident happened in March 2020 when Nizamuddin area in Delhi was sealed on March 30 after it came to light that several people, who had attended a religious event held in March at Nizamuddin by a Muslim organisation called Tablighi Jamaat, were found to be infected with Coronavirus. At least 16,500 people had visited Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters in Nizamuddin between March 13 and 24.This had led to various news reports pinning the blame on Muslim community for spreading COVID. .With regard to News18 Kannada, the NBSA ruled that the manner in which certain programmes were presented were highly objectionable and based on conjecture.The programmes in question were aired on April 1, 2020 under the titles 'Do you know how is Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz which has spread Coronavirus to the nation' and 'How many have gone to Delhi’s Jamaat Congregation from Karnataka'.“The tone, tenor and language (of the programmes) was crass, prejudiced and disrespectful. The programmes were prejudiced, inflammatory, and crossed all boundaries of good taste without concerns for feelings of a religious group. It was aimed at promoting and inciting hatred between communities,” the NBSA said in its order..Besides imposing fine of Rs. 1 lakh, the NBSA also directed the channel to telecast an apology prior to the 9 pm news on June 23.With regard to Suvarna News, the NBSA said that six broadcasts aired between March 31, 2020 and April 4, 2020 lacked objectivity and impartiality and were overtly prejudiced against a particular religion."The titles of the programmes had an insidious effect which could incite communal violence," the NBSA opined. .On the reporting of Times Now, the NBSA ruled that many of the visuals aired by the channel did not corroborate the statements made by the anchor on the programme titled 'Is Tablighi Jamaat wilfully sabotaging India'."The manner tenor and words used by the anchor could have been avoided," the NBSA said.