The High Grounds police on Saturday registered an FIR against an anchor of a Kannada News Channel for allegedly demeaning the minority community during a news debate over population growth.
Based on a complaint filed by Tanveer Ahmed on Saturday, the police charged Ajith Hanumakkanavar under section 505 (2) (creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code.
On May 9, the channel aired a programme discussing a working paper, “Share of Religious Minorities: a Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015),“ by members of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. In the graphic plate, the channel used the tricolour to denote the Hindu population and the Pakistan flag to denote the Muslim population.
This led to much outrage on social media, following which the channel, Suvarna News, withdrew the graphic slide from its website and apologised on air. The channel said this had happened due to an oversight. The slide was on air only for a few seconds, and it had been corrected during the live transmission itself.
However, in his complaint, Tanveer Ahmed has alleged that this was deliberate to “humiliate the community’s contribution to the nation”. Going beyond the use of the Pakistan flag to denote the Muslim community, Mr. Ahmed alleged that “statements made by the anchor are clearly divisive, opinionated, intending to create communal hatred as well as ill will against the Muslim community and disrupt the communal harmony between Hindu and Muslim communities”.
Following the FIR, the police have issued notice to Ajith Hanumakkanavar to appear before them for questioning.
Published - May 13, 2024 10:35 pm IST
