On December 9, Citizens for Justice and Peace sent a complaint to the Times Now, raising concerns over the contents of their show titled “देवभूमि Uttarakhand में ‘जमीन जिहाद’ पर बुलडोजर एक्शन की बारी!” that aired on Times Now Navbharat on January 2, 2023. The show was based on the decision given by the Uttarakhand High Court, wherein the court had allowed the use of force to evict 4,000 families living on what the Railways claims is its land.
On December 20, 2022 the HC had directed Railways to give the residents one week’s time to move out, by January 7, 2023 and after that, “to use the forces to any extent determining upon need, to evict forthwith the unauthorized occupants” on January 10, 2023. Over this judgment, the channel presented a report and declared that something called “Zameen Jihad” was taking place in Devbhoomi, Uttarakhand. It is best known to the hosts and the channel what this term “Zameen jihad” means.
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It is evident from the very beginning of the show that the anchor presented the issue of eviction of the Muslim community with a communal agenda. While the anchor has spoken about the decision of the Uttarakhand High Court, the anchor has not presented the legal aspect of the judgment, but rather has used terms such as “zameen jihad”, “Mazhar Jihad”, “Jihaadi Gang” and “bulldozer action of the Dhami government” to spread stigma, even hatred against the Muslim community.
Even before the communal report is presented, wherein people from the Muslims community can be seen protesting, giving speeches, crying and urging the Supreme Court to grant them justice, the anchor of the show makes brazenly communal statements, such as “Maamla Supreme Court phunch chuka hai jaha 5 january ko iski sunwayi hogi, aur agar stay nahi mila, toh 10 Jan ko iss zameen jihad ke khilaaf Dhaami sarkaar ka bulldozer yaha chalega. (The matter has reached the Supreme Court, wherein the court has stayed the Uttarakhand High Court’s decision)
The complaint states that this persistent stigmatization and attack on the minority community to drive home the point that Muslims are always up to sinister activities by terming everything they into “jihad” is harmful to the social fabric of this country. Through the complaint, CJP has sought the removal of the impugned content from all social media accounts of the channel, and issuance of a public apology for the communal reportage.
The full complaint may be read here:
Image Courtesy: newslaundry.com
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