CNN Slammed For Calling Varanasi The ‘City of The Dead’

CNN’s ‘Believer With Reza Aslan’ has gotten off to a rocky start, to say the least.

CNN’s ‘Believer with Reza Aslan’. (Photo: YouTube Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)

Television channel CNN’s new series, ‘Believer With Reza Aslan,’ premiered on Sunday.

According to the CNN website, the show is a six-part “spiritual adventure series” which will follow “renowned author and religious scholar Reza Aslan” as he “immerses himself in the world’s most fascinating faith-based groups to experience life as a true believer”.

However, ‘Believer’ has already offended many.

The trailer of the series drew criticism on Twitter, after it referred to Varanasi as “the city of the dead”.

“Anything But Dead”

Authors, politicians, and historians reacted sharply to CNN’s tweet. While many were quick to call out CNN’s branding of the city, others demanded that the channel and Aslan issue apologies.

Reza Aslan was also trolled after he claimed that his CNN team was “the first TV crew to be allowed to film from inside the burning ghats of Varanasi”.

Aslan also responded to allegations that the series was “Hinduphobic”. He tweeted: