Sudarshan News is an Indian right-wing[5]news channel.[6] It was founded in 2005 by Suresh Chavhanke, the chairman and editor-in-chief.[7] Chavhanke is a long-term member of the Hindutva organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),[8] and had worked as a reporter of the pro-RSS newspaper Tarun Bharat. He held several posts in the RSS before becoming a full-time reporter. He launched Sudarshan News in 2005 in Pune, Maharashtra and later shifted it to Noida, Uttar Pradesh.[8] He is currently the chairman, managing director and editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News and hosts its flagship TV show Bindas Bol.[9] Chavhanke was also associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of RSS.[7] He asserts that he practices ideology-driven journalism[10] and prefers that the news programs on his channel be viewed as opinionated campaigns.[7]
In August 2021, a 26 year old reporter from the channel, Manish Kumar Singh, was kidnapped and murdered in Bihar'sEast Champaran district. The police arrested three suspects out of which two were journalists, namely Amarendra Kumar and Mohammed Arshad Alam. Police sources said that they suspect a personal dispute to be the cause behind the murder. However the victim's father alleged the murder to be linked to Singh's journalism.[11] In May 2024, another journalist from the channel, Ashutosh Srivastava was shot dead in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. According to his family, the killing was linked to his coverage of the alleged slaughter of cows in the area.[12]
In April 2017, Chavhanke was arrested for allegedly inciting communal hatred through multiple episodes of a flagship program.[7][10] He secured bail two days later.
Chavhanke claims to have contributed towards the ochlocratic atmosphere that led to police complaints and death threats against M. F. Husain for allegedly violating Hindu sentiments. As a result, Husain left India on a self-imposed exile until his death.[7]
In April 2017, Chavhanke was booked and later arrested for inciting communal hatred between the Hindus and Muslimsts of Uttar Pradesh had registerecomplaint against Bindas Bol, hosted by Chavhanke and had alleged that it aired programmes that promoted communal disharmony and hostility between religious groups. Subsequently, Chavhanke was booked under various IPC sections and section 16 of the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1955 was also invoked.[16] After being released on bail, he claimed that it was an attempt to "suppress and intimidate media".[17]
In June 2018, the Delhi Minorities Commission issued a notice to the channel after it broadcast a program that claimed a Muslim-dominated region was inhabited by illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators.[10][18][19]
On September 2020, Bindas Bol hosted by Chavhanke aired a conspiracy theory suggesting that Muslim students were "infiltrating" administrative services terming it "UPSCjihad"; became viral. It was heavily condemned, including by former senior bureaucrats, judges, and the Home Minister. Broadcast of the actual TV programme was stayed by the Delhi High Court and the matter is sub-judice.[20][21][22][23][24][25]
The show claimed that Muslims were systematically "infiltrating" India's civil services, suggesting that Muslim candidates received undue advantages in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations. These assertions were based on misleading data and unverified claims, including allegations of preferential treatment and undue benefits for Muslim aspirants.[26]
The program faced widespread condemnation for promoting communal disharmony and spreading misinformation. Critics highlighted that the content was offensive and had the potential to promote communal attitudes. In response, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a caution to Sudarshan News, advising the channel to be more careful in the future and warning of stricter penal action in case of further violations.[27] 91 retired Civil servants filed case against him claiming that his programme contains derogatory statements about the Muslim community and was divisive in nature, and the programme was paused by Allahabad High Court on 1 September 2020.[28][29][30][31][32]
The Supreme Court of India also intervened, expressing concerns over the show's content and temporarily restraining the channel from airing further episodes. The court described the program as "insidious" and emphasized the need to balance freedom of the press with the responsibility to prevent communal discord.[33]
Fake news
On multiple occasions, Sudarshan News was found to be spreading fake news.[6] In 2019, the channel broadcast an old video, which was morphed with slogans calling for the killings of RSS workers. In 2014, fake quotes were attributed to Shahrukh Khan by the news channel.[6] During the Delhi riots of 2020, the channel was found to be spreading communally charged fake news.[34]
In March 2019, a Kozhikode district court ordered the channel to pay a compensation of ₹50 lakh (US$59,000) to Malabar Gold in a defamation suit, after it broadcast edited visuals alleging the company of having celebrated Pakistani Independence Day.[35][36]
References
↑ Jafri, Alishan (28 June 2021). "The 'Hindutva Ecosystem' Has a New Anti-Muslim Narrative. This Time Street Vendors Are the Target". The Wire. Retrieved 19 February 2022. Sudarshan News, a far-right TV channel often accused of broadcasting hatred against Muslims, reported the Uttam Nagar protest in an extremely inflammatory manner. Throughout the show, Sudarshan reporter Sagar Kumar and anchor Shubham Tripathi referred to Muslims as 'jihadis' and used other derogatory terms.
↑ Nair, Anagha Subhash (18 January 2022). "Hindu extremists in India escalate rhetoric with calls to kill Muslims". NBC News. Retrieved 19 February 2022. Speaking in Delhi, Suresh Chavhanke, editor of the right-wing outlet Sudarshan News, administered an oath to attendees that "until our last breath, to make India a Hindu nation, keep it a Hindu-only nation, we will fight and die, and if required we will kill as well."
↑ Mehta, Archit; Zubair, Mohammed (9 December 2021). "How disinformation led to the attack on missionary school in MP by right-wing groups". Alt News. Retrieved 19 February 2022. Several other right-wing channels have also amplified the false "conversion narrative", including Sudarshan News. The disinformation led to violence when Class XII students were giving a mathematics exam and barely escaped the attack.
↑ Hassan, Jakir (18 October 2021). "Sudarshan News Shares Video Of Teacher Punishing His Student With False Communal Narrative". The Logical Indian. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2022. Sudarshan News, an Indian right-wing news channel, posted a video on Twitter with a communal narrative. The video shows a classroom where a boy is being brutally beaten by the teacher with a stick. The video shows the teacher repeatedly kicking him with his feet.
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