India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—The Editors Guild of India has expressed its serious concern over “the irresponsible conduct” of some national news channels for “deliberately creating circumstances by spewing hatred towards them and their beliefs.”
The top body of professional journalists in India, EGI was referring to the derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) made by BJP’s Nupur Sharma during a TV debate on Times Now.
The debate that was allowed by Times Now channel anchor Navika Kumar resulted in outrage among Indian Muslims as well as Muslims all over the globe because the issue pertained to the Prophet. More than a dozen Muslim countries, mostly Arab countries, condemned the BJP leader’s remarks and demanded an apology from the Government of India because BJP happens to the ruling party.
A statement issued by the Guild on Wednesday said that “the incident that caused unnecessary embarrassment to the country could have been avoided if some of the TV outlets had been mindful of the nation’s constitutional commitment to secularism, as well as the journalistic ethics and guidelines that the Press Council of India has issued to handle a volatile situation.”
“Instead, some of these channels prompted by the desire to increase viewership and profit were seemingly inspired by the values of Radio Rwanda whose incendiary broadcast caused a genocide in the African nation,” the statement pointed out.
EGI demanded that “these channels pause and take a critical look at what they have done by giving legitimacy to divisive and toxic voices that has made the national discourse coarse and the gap between communities unbridgeable.”
The Guild also demanded stricter vigilance by broadcaster and journalist bodies to prevent a recurrence of this from taking place.
“The media is in place to strengthen the Constitution and the law and not break it through sheer irresponsibility and absence of accountability,” the Guild advised.
Nupur Sharma’s remarks led to a riot in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
EGI’s statement was signed by its president Seema Mustafa, general secretary Sanjay Kapoor and treasurer Amarnath.
