UK regulator fines Indian channel £20,000 for airing ‘hatred’ against Pakistan

In this photograph taken on April 26, 2017, Indian television journalist Arnab Goswami poses during an interview with AFP in Mumbai. (AFP)

• In an episode of anchor Arnab Goswami’s show on Republic Bharat, the presenter and some guests held the view that all Pakistanis were ‘terrorists’
• Broadcast of these statements spread, incited, promoted and justified intolerance toward Pakistanis among viewers, UK media regulator rules

ISLAMABAD: Britain’s Ofcom has fined Indian channel Republic Bharat £20,000 for statements made during a current affairs show that the media regulator deemed “expressions of hatred” against the Pakistani people.
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the UK government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries. Republic Bhara broadcasts rolling news and current affairs to the Hindi-speaking community in the UK like dozens of other Indian and Pakistani news and entertainment channels.
In an episode of anchor Arnab Goswami’s show, Poochta Hai Bharat, broadcast on September 6, 2019, the presenter and some of his guests held the view that all Pakistanis were ‘terrorists’. Addressing Pakistanis, Goswami said: “We make scientists, you make terrorists.”
The program featured “comments made by the host and some of his guests that amounted to hate speech against Pakistani people, and derogatory and abusive treatment of Pakistani people. The content was also potentially offensive and was not sufficiently justified by the context,” Ofcom said in a statement.
“We considered these statements to be expressions of hatred based on intolerance of Pakistani people based on their nationality alone, and that the broadcast of these statements spread, incited, promoted and justified such intolerance toward Pakistani people among viewers,” Ofcom said.
“We concluded that this was a serious breach of our rules which warranted the imposition of statutory sanctions. These include: a financial penalty of £20,000 ... a direction not to repeat the program; and a direction to broadcast a statement of our findings on a date – and in a form — to be determined by Ofcom.”
Referring to statements by a retired major-general of the Indian army who had been a guest on Goswami’s show, Ofcom said the remarks “clearly threatened that the Indian military would attack Pakistani civilians in their homes, [and] were an expression of hatred and desire to kill by a figure of authority. In our view, the broadcast of these statements also promoted hatred and intolerance toward Pakistani people.”
“We also noted that Pakistani contributors were repeatedly interrupted and afforded little time to make points which may potentially have provided challenge or context,” Ofcom said.