New Delhi: India’s self-regulatory news authority has found Zee News and Times Now Navbharat in breach of its Code of Ethics for airing Islamophobic and misleading reports that promoted “Mehendi Jihad” and “Love Jihad” conspiracy theories, Maktoob Media reported.
The News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) issued separate rulings in response to complaints filed last year by media researcher and journalist Indrajeet Ghorpade, who accused the channels of spreading anti-Muslim misinformation and hate speech.
In one ruling, the NBDSA concluded that Zee News violated ethical norms with reports claiming Muslim men posing as mehendi (henna) artists were targeting Hindu women for forced religious conversion. The channel aired multiple segments with headlines such as “Mehendi Jihad par de dana-dan” and “Lathi se lais rahenge, jihadiyon ko rokenge,” alleging that Muslim artists “spit into mehendi” and used their profession to lure women into converting.
Ghorpade said the channel amplified violent anti-Muslim rhetoric, called for boycotts of Muslim mehendi artists, and failed to verify its claims or present opposing perspectives.
“Despite promoting these violent threats against Muslim artists, NBDSA only ‘admonished’ Zee News and asked for the videos to be removed, a year after their broadcast,” Ghorpade said. “NBDSA has the authority to impose fines from Rs2 lakh to Rs25 lakh but chose not to. Channels like Zee have little incentive to stop spreading content that divides society.”
In another case, NBDSA found Times Now Navbharat in violation of its Code of Ethics for reports on a controversial “Love Jihad” case in Uttar Pradesh. The channel aired segments echoing a judgment by Bareilly District Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, who sentenced Muslim man Mohammed Aalim to life imprisonment for allegedly forcing a Hindu woman to convert. The woman later told the court that her parents and Hindu right-wing groups had coerced her into filing a false complaint, a detail the channel omitted.
“Times Now Navbharat repeated the judge’s words without applying journalistic scrutiny,” Ghorpade said. “While NBDSA noted that tickers like ‘Uttar Pradesh mein Love Jihad, toolkit Pakistan’ and ‘Jhuthe naam ka afsana, maqsad musalman banana’ violated the Code of Ethics, it ignored that the channel deliberately suppressed the woman’s confession.”
He added, “We have Hindu judges protecting Hindu extremists, a news channel promoting their judgment, and self-regulatory bodies led by retired judges shielding the channel. What could possibly go wrong?”
While NBDSA directed both channels to remove the objectionable content, it refrained from levying fines.
“These cases highlight how the self-regulatory framework fails to hold powerful media houses accountable for communal propaganda,” Ghorpade said. He urged journalists, activists, and organisations to raise awareness and push for independent oversight of broadcast media.
