In a democracy, the media is supposed to act as a check on the government but the opposite is happening in India nowadays. Media is no longer interested in finding problems with government policies or showing common man issues. They have no time to show important matters like Economy, Employment, because Hindu-Muslim and Pakistan debates are generating much TRP and Ad revenue.
The day was for Last hearing on Ram Mandir/Babri case and as usual, our fourth pillar of democracy went directly to judgement supporting one religious belief and completely ignoring the other side.
Hindi News Channels ‘Aaj Tak’ from India Today Group has received very strong reactions and criticism for their show over Ayodhya Ram Mandir news. Activist Saket Gokhale has sent official notice and filed FIR against that channel for their biased one-sided coverage of this news.
Considering the sensitivity of the case, the Supreme Court itself has been talking about the arbitrator. With such title the channel directly gave its judgment on the matter that the Muslims have no right over it.
On 15 October a banner was Tweeted from official Twitter handle of Aaj Tak which says “Janm Bhumi Hamari, Ram Hamare, Masjid Wale Kaha se Padhare” [Translation: “The Birthplace is ours, Ram is ours, where did the Mosque-waalahs come from?”]
Tweeple took this very seriously and Aaj Tak received heavy criticism for sharing this.
Reading this controversial and provoking Tweet, Saket Gokhle on 16 October asked Aaj Tak to delete it and issue a public apology within 24 hours or get ready for legal consequences on promoting communal disharmony & hatred.
The channel neither issued any apology nor deleted their Tweet and Saket Gokhle went ahead to send legal notice to Aaj Tak under section 153(A) and 295(A) of IPC. The activist didn’t stop here, he filed an FIR in Uttar Pardesh and also lodging complaint against Aaj Tak with News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA).
Saket Gokhle said in his notice that the Ram Mandir/Babri Masjid matter is in Supreme Court and Tweeting such thing is a clear contempt of court since it publicly endorses and supports the claim of one of the parties over another.
He further added, “Your channel has spread communal disharmony with this piece of content as well as made an attempt to incite communal hatred through an openly divisive communication of this nature”.
In an advisory, NBSA asked the news channels to ensure that no speculative news was telecasted on the impending judgement. But with this Tweet, Aaj Tak has simply ignored that advisory of self-regulatory body.
