Will fight, kill if needed to make India Hindu rashtra: Sudarshan News editor’s oath at Delhi event

In videos widely circulated on social media, members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini were seen taking taking an oath﹘administered by Sudarshan News editor-in-chief Suresh Chavhanke﹘to make India a “Hindu nation”, and to fight, die and “kill if required” for the purpose.

According to a report by Scroll.in, the video was taken during an event held in Delhi on December 19 by the Hindutva outfit. In the video, Chavhanke, while administering the oath, says, “In order to make this country a Hindu nation and to keep it a Hindu nation, and to move forward, we will fight, die and kill, if required.”

Chavhanke posted the video on Twitter saying “Lions and Lionesses of Hindu Yuva Vahini taking the oath of Hindu Rashtra with me”. In his tweet, the Sudarshan News editor-in-chief tagged UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too.

The Delhi unit of the Hindu Yuva Vahini claims on its Facebook page that the group was founded by Adityanath, according to the report.

Sudarshan News has been known to air shows which border on riot mongering and spread hate in the past. Some of these shows have also been sponsored by the Adityanath government.

Last month, Chavhanke was seen attending a meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat. Various editors and journalists from different newsrooms were part of the meeting where supposedly a “normal discussion about RSS took place”.

Earlier this year, an FIR was registered against Chavhanke for allegedly hurting the sentiments of tribals and Meena communities during the dispute over Amagarh Fort between the Meena community and Hindu groups, the Indian Express had reported. The FIR had said that Chavhanke and others “want to spread religious frenzy as a part of a conspiracy and want to spread chaos and riots to disrupt communal harmony”.

Last year, it proposed a conspiracy called “UPSC jihad” by which Muslims were purportedly “infiltrating” the civil services for their own nefarious purposes. Even the Supreme Court called the show “insidious” and a great “disservice to the nation”.

In 2013 during the devastating Muzaffarnagar riots, Sudarshan News was sent a showcause notice by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for violation of policies. The channel was also pulled up for “instigating violence”. Unsurprisingly, Chavhanke maintained that the channel had a “clean history record” and had only been “appealing to viewers to remain calm”.

Sudarshan also has a long history of misinformation and disinformation. In 2017, it carried an image of a Bangladeshi activist and dubbed him a “Rohingya criminal”. In 2018, the channel was issued a notice by the Delhi Minorities Commission for referring to residents in North Delhi’s Bawana as “Bangladeshis” and “Rohingyas”. In the same year, even the Uttar Pradesh police asked Chavhanke to “stop spreading misleading news”.