Notice to TV channel for referring Bawana locals as ‘Rohingyas’

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 3

A TV channel has been served with a notice by the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) in connection with a report it aired in which it allegedly referred to some locals of the Bawana area, north Delhi, as “Rohingyas” and “Bangladeshis”.

The managing director of the channel has been told to submit a reply by June 12 with proof to support the allegation that Bawana residents were “Bangladeshis” and “Rohingyas”, failing which it is supposed to tender an unconditional written apology and also air the apology.

“Taking suo motu cognisance of a report telecast by Sudarshan TV a notice was issued to it for showing residents of Bawana, a large resettlement colony, as Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. It is an illegal act and can cause religious unrest. The channel has been told to submit proofs otherwise submit a written apology and air it on the channel,” DMC chairperson Zafarul Islam Khan said.

The channel also has to inform the commission what action has been taken against the reporter and the staff behind the “false report” that spread disaffection against a section of Indian citizens, said a DMC statement.

The DMC also ordered the channel to air the apology and submit an undertaking that it would not telecast such reports in future. It stated that appropriate action would be taken against the channel in case it fails to positively reply to the notice.

The channel purportedly aired a programme on May 11 that showed some locals of Bawana as “Bangladeshis” and “Rohingyas” even as these Indian citizens had been officially settled there by government agencies after their relocation from various areas of Delhi over the decades.

A notice was also issued to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) to file a report about the action taken against the said broadcast, and a person who is said to be behind the rumours that the residents of the resettlement colony were “Bangladeshis” and “Rohingyas”.