Kannada News Channels get away with hate speech complaints, claims Karnataka activists’ group
Bengaluru: Karnataka-based group of activists, named “Campaign Against Hate Speech” has stated that Kannada News Channels get away with hate speeches as they are not affiliated to self-regulating bodies like News Broadcasters Standards Association (NBSA).
According to a story published on The News Minute, the group Campaign Against Hate Speech had filed 17 complaints against Kannada News Channels over hate speeches at the district and state-level committees in 2021 but has not received any acknowledgment about the same.
The report points out instances where news channels like Dighvijay 24x7, Asianet Suvarna News, Public TV, and others were inciting hate between the communities through their programs.
“'Conversion is scarier than Terrorism! Do you know how much money is made when a Hindu converts to Christianity?’ – This was the title of a program that aired on Kannada channel Dighvijay 24x7 News in March 2021, where the show’s anchor Mamatha Hegde discussed ‘religious conversions’” the report states.
The program even had an advisory for viewers on what to do when a Christian priest comes home. The ominous-sounding anchor tells viewers, "Many do not know what should be done when a priest comes home, please call the police and give a complaint. Tell the police that they are trying to convert. If ten people get punished, then the 11th person will not come. If we do not show courage, if we do not protect our religion, then none of this will stop." It adds.
In April 2021, a Karnataka-based volunteer group – Campaign Against Hate Speech – had filed complaints with the District Level Monitoring Committee for Private Television Channels, against new channels like Dighvijay 24x7 News, to hold them and the anchors accountable over the hate speech in their coverage. The group, made up of lawyers, activists, and academicians, filed 17 complaints in total against Kannada news channels including Public TV, Suvarna TV, News18 Kannada, and TV9 Kannada, as well as English news channels like Times Now. All they received in response was an acknowledgment in two of the cases.
That same year, the group had filed complaints with the national-level body News Broadcasters Standards Association (NBSA), over biased coverage of the coronavirus pandemic where members of Tablighi Jamaat, as well as the Muslim community, were targeted. This led to Times Now being censured and two Kannada channels — News18 Kannada and Suvarna News — being fined.
"We filed 17 complaints with district and state-level monitoring committees which are mandated to check the coverage on private channels but there was no action taken on any of the complaints," Manavi Atri of the Campaign Against Hate Speech was quoted as saying by TNM.
The District Level Monitoring Committee and State Level Monitoring Committee were set up based on a 2019 Karnataka High Court order. The High Court directed the state government to constitute committees at various levels to monitor content on television channels. The High Court also stated that a control room should be set up with a nodal officer in charge who will receive complaints from the public about content on television channels. Manavi says that the failure of the committees to take up the 17 complaints against news channels is a contempt of the court's orders. "This means that few channels exercise absolute powers with no regulatory mechanisms. They are free to air whatever they want as 'news'," Manavi adds.
The complaint against Dighvijay 24x7 News' coverage of the issue of religious conversions noted that the anchor Mamatha Hegde insinuated falsehoods and called for Hindus to inculcate a sense of hostility against minority religions.
As per the complaint, the anchor insinuated that religious conversions are illegal, which is not the case. She insinuated that there was always fraud and inducement involved, which was not proven. She made claims to show that Christians are outsiders but made no references to the sources of these claims. "Throughout the program, the anchor uses videos that contain violent acts against Christians and suggests it as a suitable response to the alleged ‘fraudulent conversion’,” the complaint stated.
Dighvijay 24x7 News is owned by Vijay Sankeshwar of VRL Media, who is a former BJP MP. The channel is among a number of Kannada channels that appear to be free of regulatory checks, as they are not a part of national-level regulatory bodies like the News Broadcasters Standards Association (NBSA) or the News Broadcasters' Federation (NBF).
It is important to note, that there were at least 39 attacks on Christian believers in Karnataka in 2021, as per a PUCL report. Crucially, this report noted that often police, and in some cases, media personnel in the guise of doing an investigative report, colluded with Hindutva groups to carry out the attacks.
“The coverage of these incidents by news channels built public opinion against the fundamental rights of the people who converted to Christianity and viewed them as criminals, but there is no mechanism to hold the news channels accountable for it," adds Manavi.
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Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
