By Syed Hurairah
Hyderabad: There has been outrage after Zee News Hindi anchor Sudhir Chowdhary ran a segment of his show DNA about Zameen Jihad. The segment quickly spiralled into something even Muslims have never heard of, which includes Victimhood Jihad, Secularism Jihad, Economic Jihad, and hold on your breath, Film and Music Jihad.
Zee News Hindi tweeted screenshots and short clips of this show on Twitter. The Channel has 2.5 million followers.
SIO’s reaction
The Students Islamic Organisation–an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind–was quick to take up the issue. SIO Telangana President Dr Talha Fayyazuddin urged the Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy to take action against Choudhary for allegedly spreading communal hatred.
The SIO issued a statement on its website, an excerpt of which reads, “Sir, this ill conceived report uses a term “#ZameenJihad” attributing to the Muslims who bought the land in the said region to be “waging a demographic war”!
This is a clear case of propaganda targeting the Muslim community. Such propaganda in the name of news and the usage of religious terminologies must be seen in a specific context of the religious scripts, the channel is indulging in creating fear of Muslims in the non-Muslim people of the country, further propagating the hatred and distrust among communities. This is a serious threat to the law and order anywhere in the country. If such propaganda is allowed to flourish, the precedent it sets may as well be utilized by the anti-social elements and pitted against the communities elsewhere as well.
Hence, we, the people of India, request you to please register an FIR against the anchor for hurting sentiments, spreading fake news, spreading enmity between different groups and spreading communal hatred under relevant laws.”
Activist writes to TS police
Meanwhile, another activist S Q Masood too wrote to the Telangana Police.
In a complaint submitted to Additional Commissioner of Police Avinash Mohanthy, Masood said that Zee News has unleashed a wave of terror through this report. It has done so at a time when the Delhi riots have created massive concern in the country and in the city as well. Masood sought strict action against the channel and Choudhary.