Take down ‘sensationalist’ shows on Umar Khalid, regulator tells Zee, India TV, Aaj Tak

The National Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority has objected to how some TV news channels have covered student leader Umar Khalid’s prosecution for alleged offences related to the 2020 Delhi communal carnage.

In an order on Tuesday, the NBDSA asked Zee News, Zee Hindustan, India TV, and Aaj Tak to take down their shows on the matter, pointing out that the tickers used during the broadcasts were “sensationalist”.

The order came on a complaint filed by one Indrajeet Ghorpade and stated that Zee Hindustan, Zee News and Aaj Tak aired shows on November 24, 2020 in which the allegations levelled against Khalid were portrayed as facts. A show aired on India TV on the next day did the same, the complaint added.

Khalid is facing charges under India’s anti-terrorism law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, for allegedly inciting violence during the carnage. The student leader has disputed the charges and accused the news media of all but declaring him guilty even before the trial had started.

The news channels were within their rights to broadcast news about the 2020 carnage, the regulator said, but the question is whether they “had the right to treat the police report as gospel truth” and apparently lead their audiences to believe that the allegations against Khalid were proof of his guilt.

Their use of such taglines as “Umar Khalid is the mastermind of Delhi riots” and “Umar Khalid is a terrorist?”, the regulator said, “gave an impression that the accused had already been declared guilty”. “When viewed in entirety, the broadcasters cannot deny the fact that these taglines create a certain perception amongst the public,” it added, and directed the news channels to take the shows down from all platforms within seven days.