How Hindi news TV covered police action in the wake of Prophet remarks row

The Delhi police on Thursday lodged an FIR against at least 30 people, accusing them of spreading hate and hurting religious sentiments on social media. They include All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi and Hindu supremacist priest Yati Narsinghanad.

The previous day, they had filed an FIR invoking similar charges against another group of individuals, including journalist Saba Naqvi and expelled BJP Delhi media head Naveen Jindal. A third FIR named suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

Responding to the FIR, Owaisi said, “This is the first FIR I have seen that is not specifying what the crime is.” Not long after, his party’s workers held protests against the FIR outside the Parliament Street police station in Delhi.

The FIRs come in the wake of the outrage caused by remarks against Prophet Muhammad made on a Times Now show by Nupur, who has since become the subject of widespread media coverage. Not least because her remarks led to a sharp diplomatic backlash from several Muslim countries, especially Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Pakistan, and Indonesia. On June 5, the BJP suspended Nupur and expelled Naveen, who had echoed her on Twitter.

Back home, the BJP leaders’ derogatory remarks led to protests by Muslims, some of which were put down violently by police, especially in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

On Thursday, several TV news channels ran “debates” on the issue, focussing on the multiple FIRs registered by the Delhi police. On Hindi news channels, Owaisi was the main focus.

On Aaj Tak, Chitra Tripathi held a “debate” on her show Dangal with Samajwadi Party’s Ashutosh Verma, Aam Aadmi Party’s Reena Gupta, self-styled Muslim scholar Sajid Rashidi, political analyst Sujata Pandey, Vishva Hindu Parishad’s Vijay Shankar Tiwari, and Peace Party spokesperson Shadab Chauhan, who is among those named in the Delhi police’s FIR.

Chitra talked about the violence in Kanpur and a purported attack on a temple in Karachi, Pakistan, on Wednesday. “A temple has been targeted in Pakistan. Idols have been broken. Pakistan is trying to teach us a lesson in secularism,” she said.

Reena argued that the BJP had embarrassed the country. “Today, because of BJP’s actions, small countries like Indonesia are summoning Indian diplomats and reprimanding them,” she said, only to be interrupted by Chitra. Referring to Nupur and Naveen, the anchor said, “Just because two people gave their comments, how can you bring the whole country into this?” Chitra asked.

Earlier, the TV channel had invited Dutch MP Geert Wilders to speak on the matter. Wilders is a rightwing leader who has a history of making Islamophic statements. He launched his election campaign in 2017 by calling Moroccans "scum" and promising to ban immigration from Muslim countries and shut mosques. Wilders has also appeared on Aaj Tak’s sister channel India Today.

He was not the only questionable character to grace the TV channel this week. Pooja Shakun Pandey aka Sadhvi Annapurna was invited to a “debate” on June 6 during which she demanded to know, “What wrong did Nupur Sharma say? She gave a reaction.” Pooja, in case you were unaware, reportedly delivered a hate speech at a Dharam Sansad in Haridwar late last year.

Over at News18 India, Amish Devgan discussed the FIRs on his show Aar Paar, focussing on Owaisi. He started out by cherrypicking comments made by the AIMIM leader in December 2021 and said they were against Hindus. “If Modi and Yogi go away, who will save you? In some way this is against Hindus,” he declared.

Devgan mentioned Narsinghanand’s hate speech, only to quickly move on to comments by Maulana Nadeem Mufti, who has also been named in an FIR by the police. On June 5, Mufti had allegedly threatened violence against those who insulted the Prophet. This is what Amish dedicated his attention to, and there was no mention of Narsinghanand thereafter.

Subuhi Khan, introduced as a social activist, took it upon herself to defend Nupur’s remarks. “I am a follower of the Prophet. I am with Nupur Sharma because she was provoked on that TV debate,” she said. She went on to claim that Nupur made the comments only because Lord Shiva had been insulted.

On Zee News, Aditi Tyagi conducted a “debate” on the Kanpur violence which she mostly spent in a war of words with AIMIM spokesman Waris Pathan over his party chief’s comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She launched into whataboutery, too. “The noise we hear on bulldozers, where does it go?” she asked, referring to the outrage over the series of demolitions of Muslim homes and business establishments. “Why do politicians go silent on rioters and stonepelters?”

Sushil Pandit, also described as an “activist”, was upset over the diplomatic backlash in the Middle East. “This country has freedom. The countries which have condemned us, what freedom do they have?” he asked, before getting into a shouting match with Pathan.