India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 28–The Delhi High Court has stayed the broadcast of a trailer of the Sudarshan news channel which is based on “infiltration of Muslims” in the civil services.
The stay was granted on a petition filed by the Jamia Millia Islamia. The order was issued by a single-judge bench of Justice Navin Chawla.
The university had sought a ban on the proposed broadcast of a programme titled “Bindas bol” which was to be aired on Sudarshan news at 8 pm today.
The petition said that the proposed programme contained content that is aimed at inciting hatred against Jamia Millia Islamia, its students and the Muslim community at large.
The petitioners alleged that editor-in-chief of the channel Suresh Chavhanke has openly engaged in hate speech and defamation against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and the Muslim community.
Chavhanke on August 26 had tweeted a trailer of his show, saying that it was an “expose” on the infiltration of Muslims in the Civil Services with the hashtag ‘UPSC Jihad’.
In his video, he called those having cleared the Union Public Service Commission examination by attending coaching at Jamia’s Residential Coaching Academy as “Jamia ke jihadi”.
Chavhanke, in his trailer, claims that success of Jamia students in civil services examinations of 2020 was a “conspiracy to infiltrate the civil services by Muslims”.
The petition alleged that Chavhanke has “openly incited non-Muslim audience by fear-mongering that “jihadis” or terrorists from the Jamia Millia Islamia would soon hold positions of authority and power like that of collector and secretary”.
“The proposed broadcast, if allowed, would present a clear danger to the security of the petitioners, as well as that of other students and alumni of Jamia Millia Islamia including those who cleared Civil Services Exam in 2020, as well as the Muslim community at large, and would leave them open to the imminent threat of violence, including the possibility of lynching. This would amount to an egregious violation of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed to the petitioners under Article 21 of the Constitution”, the petition said.
As many as 30 students the Jamia Residential Coaching Academy had been selected this year out of which 16 are Muslims and 14 are Hindus.
