The News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has directed Zee News and Times Now Navbharat to remove videos that spread Islamophobic content, calling their reporting on “mehendi jihad” and “love jihad” a violation of broadcasting ethics.
The order comes after journalist and media researcher Indrajeet Ghorpade filed a complaint, accusing the channels of promoting communal hatred against Muslims.
According to the complaint, Zee News aired reports claiming that Muslim men posing as henna artists spat on mehendi applied to Hindu women and used the opportunity to force religious conversions. The channel also ran headlines encouraging boycotts of mehendi artists from the Muslim community.
Times Now Navbharat reported on a so-called “love jihad” case from Bareilly, where a Muslim man, Mohammad Aalim, was sentenced to life imprisonment after a Hindu girl alleged he tricked her into converting to Islam. Later, the girl confessed that she had been pressured by her parents and local Hindutva groups to make the allegation, but the channel continued its coverage without mentioning this update.
Speaking about the NBDSA order, Ghorpade said, “These cases reveal how the self-regulatory framework continues to fail in holding powerful media houses accountable for communal propaganda.” The authority asked both channels to delete the objectionable videos but did not impose any fines, even though it has the power to levy penalties ranging from two to twenty-five lakh rupees.
