Former India TV Journalist accuses channel of forcing him to “fabricate” news

 His open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the alleged “fabrication of news” by the Hindi language news channel India TV to favour the PM triggered the hashtag #IndiaTVExposed on social media. Along with outrage and support, came a scathing response from the channel’s managing editor, Ajit Anjum accusing him of negligence and impropriety.

But the man at the eye of the storm, the channel’s former senior correspondent, Imran Shaikh, says that he holds no grudges against the channel, nor is he fishing for a job there. All he wants, he says, is an audience with the PM to discuss the ways seniors at the channel allegedly pressurised him to tweak news in favour of the PM.

In a conversation with Newslaundry, Shaikh said, “I have no grudge against India TV or its editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma, but I want to make sure that the PM knows about it.”

On October 10, Shaikh posted pictures of the letter he had sent to the PM on his Facebook page. He captioned it “When We Confuse Between ‘What is Right’ or ‘What is Trend’, I think we have to Choose ‘What is Right’. so i choose it and share my opinion with #PmoIndia. please read it and share it. Thanx everyone for support [sic]”.

The next day, Anjum posted a long riposte on his Facebook page in both Hindi and English. The post, that the channel’s branch head Faizal Islam declared was the channel’s official stance on the issue, was divided into six points.

Anjum claimed that there were several issues with Shaikh’s performance at India TV, following which he was warned both verbally and in writing. He was accused of negligence and improper behaviour. The channel claims that there are records of these warnings. He was suspended for two days last year, following which Shaikh sent a notice levelling charges of harassment against three senior colleagues. And perhaps most damningly of all, he had left India TV more than a year before he sent the letter.

Anjum wrote, “The very fact, that he levelled such an allegation a year after quitting the channel, indicates that some vested interests have used him as a pawn in a nefarious game or his intentions are suspect.”

Responding to these allegations, Shaikh told Newslaundry, “When I was not fabricating news in favour of PM Modi, they started targeting me even in my daily news coverage. In all my eight years of service with India TV, there have been no complaints against me. Though I was covering crime and local stories, I was assigned political stories from time to time. I was being systematically targeted by three immediate seniors Rahul Chaudhary, Faizal Islam and Jay Prakash Singh, and the channel is still defending them.”

When asked for specific examples or instances where he was asked to “fabricate news” to favour the PM, he said he had all the “evidences”, but would only show them to Modi. Asked why he waited so long, he said, “I was summoning up the courage to write to the PM. The PM is the highest authority in the country, he is not my friend. It is a big decision.”

He said he had even written to Sharma asking him for a meeting. “I wanted to tell him about the problems in the daily functioning of the channel, but haven’t heard from him since.” He said he had tweeted at Sharma, asking for a fair investigation into the allegations.

Shaikh is not currently employed with any media house. He has found it difficult to find work as he believes his image has been maligned, owing to his unceremonious exit from the channel. He has even filed a case of defamation against Chaudhary, Islam, and Singh, suing them for a nominal compensation of Re 1. All he wants, he says, is an apology from the channel. “I am not asking them for a job.”

Islam, who Shaikh has named as one of his harassers told Newslaundry, “I was deputed to Mumbai a year ago, and I can say that there were issues with his performance. Rest has been said in the company’s official response.”

This is not the first instance of a reporter pointing fingers at the practices at India TV. In 2014, former reporter with the channel, Tanu Sharma attempted suicide inside the office citing harassment.