Ban Amish Devgan’s TV Show, Gujarat Muslim Hit Rakshak Samiti urges I&B ministry

An umbrella of Muslim organisations, Gujarat Muslim Hit Rakshak Samiti has filed an application in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Ministry appealing for banning the transmission of the TV show titled ‘Aar-Paar’ which is aired on News18 India and a complaint against Amish Devgan under Sections 19 and 20 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

The application raises concern about fake news leading to hate crimes and communal tension across the country. “As the country battles COVID-19, with the number of cases having crossed 4,00,000, simultaneously fake news, misleading news and communal news also seem to be spreading along with virus but at a greater speed. The dissemination of such news is a matter of concern and has led to various instances of hate crimes and communal tension in the country and hence it is very crucially imperative to take action against the spread of such news.”

“Mr Amish Devgan is infamous for his openly biased and communal reporting. Rarely concerned with the real issues of the country, his show ‘Aar-Paar’ always takes up such controversial topics which have obvious religious undertones whereby the religion Islam and the Muslim community is targeted.”

“He invites extremists and fringe elements as panelists for his debate and conducts it in such a manner that he and the panelists make statements that promote hatred towards the followers of particular political class and religious class creating a negative image in the minds of the viewers,” the application reads.

The letter also goes on to list example of Amish Devgan’s fake and misleading reports. “For instance, on 01.05.2020, Mr. Amish Devgan, in his show “Aar-Paar” falsely claimed that Muslims had gathered at a mosque in Mumbai's Kurla area for namaz/prayer during the lockdown, and further falsely claimed that the Muslims misbehaved with the police who went to remove the crowd at the mosque.”

“ This reportage was accompanied with dog-whistle statements targeting Muslims for violating the lockdown and thereby holding them singularly responsible for the spread of COVID-19.”

“In reality, the issue was not related to Muslims, mosque or namaaz at all. After fact-checking website Alt News debunked his claim which went viral on social media and criminal complaints were lodged against him for false and misleading reporting,he pretended to apologize for the said misreporting in his show.”

Mentioning another incident, letter states, “During the lockdown, Mr. Amish Devgan reported false information about the Tablighi Jamaat in an episode of his “Aar-Paar” show in which he held the Tablighi Jamaat solely responsible for spreading COVID-19.”

“He also falsely claimed that the Tablighi Jamaat was getting help from Pakistan for spreading coronavirus infection in India. In this manner, he frequently tries to hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community thereby damaging the communal harmony and integrity of the country by creating animosity between people of different religions in the country by targeting Muslims,” says the letter.

The letter also refers to the recent debate where during the course of argument with Maulana Ali Kadri, “Amish Degvan knowingly and in his conscious state uttered the words ‘Attacker Chishti’ came to India, Attacker Chishti came, Looter Chishti came and forcefully converted (Hindus)’.”

Gujarat Muslim Hit Rakshak Samiti urged the Information and Broadcast ministry to ban the transmission of “Aar-Paar” and transmission of any other programme by Amish Devgan for deliberately and continuously spreading false and misleading news against the Muslim community

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed investigation and coercive action against News18 anchor Amish Devgan on the multiple FIRs registered against him over his remarks on Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti till the next date of hearing, legal news website LiveLaw.in has reported.

A vacation bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna issued notice on his writ petition seeking quashing of the FIRs and asked him to implead all the defacto complainants.