The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) has directed news channel Zee News to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh and to issue an apology to poet and scientist Gauhar Raza for a show broadcast in 2016, during which Raza was called a part of an ‘Afzal Premi gang’.
Zee News had aired a programme called ‘Afzal Premi Gang ka Mushaira’ (which it had broadcast several times) on 9 March, 2016, showing Raza reciting poems at a mushaira. Apart from calling Raza a supporter of Afzal Guru (the 2001 Parliament attack convict), the channel also called him a “desh-drohi shayar” (anti-national poet) and added visuals from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) event in February 2016, , where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.
Raza, in his complaint, alleged that the channel had aired only selective portions of some poems and defamed him on baseless grounds. He also claimed that it had endangered his life.
In the complaint filed on 4 April 2016, Raza stated that of three poems he recited at the mushaira, one was about playwright Safdar Hashmi’s murder; and another was about the death of two Iraqi journalists. Raza asserted that the programme had violated the “principles of impartiality, objectivity and neutrality as contained in the News Broadcasters Association’s Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards”.
The NBSA has agreed with Raza. In its order, the body said: “The broadcaster had failed to give an opportunity to Professor Gauhar Raza, who was being reported upon, to give his version/views; broadcasting a programme using the footage of JNU incidents with the poetry recital of Raza and giving title to the programme as ‘Afzal Premi Gang ka Mushaira’ was highly inappropriate and derogatory as mere reference by Prof. Gauhar Raza while reciting poetry to ‘Kanhaiya’, ‘Nehru University’ and ‘Rohit Vemula’, could not be a ground to brand the poet, the organizers of Mushaira and the audience as Afzal Premi Gang”.
Zee News has been asked to air an apology at 9pm on 8 September, in the form of a full-screen scroll, apologising to Raza and regretting the words used to tag him.
However, Zee News has denied violating any NBSA guidelines. In a statement, the channel said:
...the aim of the programme was to show that no restraint has been placed on the freedom of speech and expression, as some sections continually alleged.
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