POLITICS
‘Being targeted, not boycotted’ — what 14 blacklisted anchors have to say about INDIA’s ban on them
- Admin
- Sep 16, 2023
‘Being targeted, not boycotted’ — what 14 blacklisted anchors have to say about INDIA’s ban on them
Anchors include Arnab Goswami of Republic TV and prominent faces from networks like India Today, Aaj Tak and DD News, among others. BJP says this shows INDIA alliance’s 'insecurity'
The opposition INDIA bloc Thursday announced a list of 14 news anchors it has decided to blacklist. Essentially, this means that none of the 38 parties that make up the alliance will send its representatives on shows or debates hosted by these anchors.
Since the announcement, INDIA received flak for its ‘Emergency-like’ decision from the concerned news anchors, the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The blocked anchors include Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV; Rubika Liyaquat, anchor at Bharat24; Sudhir Chaudhary, Chitra Tripathi, Gaurav Sawant, and Shiv Aroor of India Today-Aaj Tak network; Navika Kumar, group editor at Times Network; Sushant Sinha, anchor at Times Now; Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan, and Anand Narasimhan of CNN-News18, Prachi Parashar of India TV; Aditi Tyagi of Bharat Express; and Ashok Shrivastav, anchor at DD News.
reached all 14 anchors via calls and texts, of whom some declined to comment or gave their statements on their X profiles or spoke about the boycott on their show.
Speaking to ThePrint, Sushant Sinha, who anchors the ‘News ki Pathshala’ on Times Now Navbharat every day at 9 pm, said that he was “surprised” to see his name on the list.
“It seems less like a list made to boycott and more like a list made to target because journalists like me, who do not do any debate show and do not even usually invite any guests on their show, are on this list. Who is being stopped from coming to my show when no one comes?” he said.
“This will only harm the image of the INDIA alliance. Everywhere, on social media, it is being compared to the way the voices of journalists were suppressed during the Emergency. Supporters of some of the parties in the INDIA alliance are openly threatening the journalists on this list with jail or being told to be ready for ‘treatment’. Will journalists in this country now receive such open threats?” added Sinha.
Rubika Liyaquat of Bharat24, on the other hand, said that this is not a ban, “this is fear”.
“This is called intimidation. It’s not boycotting journalists. This is called running away from questions. You are used to dealing with yes men. That is not something I did yesterday, nor will I do it tomorrow. If you have the courage to ban, ban those who are serving hatred in a market of love. They are serving twisted hatred,” Liyaquat wrote in Hindi in a post on X, where the banner on her profile reads ‘Bebaq, Bekhauf, Bejhijak’ (bold, fearless, unfaltering).
According to BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla — who frequently features on debates on news channels — the boycott is a reminder of the Congress’ Emergency mindset.
“Ironically, this alliance prides itself in the fact that it is there to save the Constitution, that it is there to represent the values of tolerance. Instead of taking action against those in the alliance who are speaking against Hinduism, like Udhayanidhi Stalin and Priyank Kharge and the likes of people from the Samajwadi Party and RJD, they are boycotting journalists. It shows how they want to divide and rule the media,” Poonawalla.
He added that this shows the INDIA alliance’s “insecurity”.
“Within 15 minutes of this fatwa being launched, Samajwadi Party’s was already in a debate on Chitra Tripathi’s show. It shows that they don’t have a consensus among their own party members on these matters. Also, there are a couple of people on the list who do not do debate shows, for example Sudhir Chaudhary and Sushant Sinha. So, this is not a list to boycott anchors, this is a list to target them. I foresee that fake cases will be filed against these anchors and they will be intimidated in Congress-ruled and non-BJP ruled states,” he added.
The blocked anchors include Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV; Rubika Liyaquat, anchor at Bharat24; Sudhir Chaudhary, Chitra Tripathi, Gaurav Sawant, and Shiv Aroor of India Today-Aaj Tak network; Navika Kumar, group editor at Times Network; Sushant Sinha, anchor at Times Now; Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan, and Anand Narasimhan of CNN-News18, Prachi Parashar of India TV; Aditi Tyagi of Bharat Express; and Ashok Shrivastav, anchor at DD News.
reached all 14 anchors via calls and texts, of whom some declined to comment or gave their statements on their X profiles or spoke about the boycott on their show.
Speaking to ThePrint, Sushant Sinha, who anchors the ‘News ki Pathshala’ on Times Now Navbharat every day at 9 pm, said that he was “surprised” to see his name on the list.
“It seems less like a list made to boycott and more like a list made to target because journalists like me, who do not do any debate show and do not even usually invite any guests on their show, are on this list. Who is being stopped from coming to my show when no one comes?” he said.
“This will only harm the image of the INDIA alliance. Everywhere, on social media, it is being compared to the way the voices of journalists were suppressed during the Emergency. Supporters of some of the parties in the INDIA alliance are openly threatening the journalists on this list with jail or being told to be ready for ‘treatment’. Will journalists in this country now receive such open threats?” added Sinha.
Rubika Liyaquat of Bharat24, on the other hand, said that this is not a ban, “this is fear”.
“This is called intimidation. It’s not boycotting journalists. This is called running away from questions. You are used to dealing with yes men. That is not something I did yesterday, nor will I do it tomorrow. If you have the courage to ban, ban those who are serving hatred in a market of love. They are serving twisted hatred,” Liyaquat wrote in Hindi in a post on X, where the banner on her profile reads ‘Bebaq, Bekhauf, Bejhijak’ (bold, fearless, unfaltering).
According to BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla — who frequently features on debates on news channels — the boycott is a reminder of the Congress’ Emergency mindset.
“Ironically, this alliance prides itself in the fact that it is there to save the Constitution, that it is there to represent the values of tolerance. Instead of taking action against those in the alliance who are speaking against Hinduism, like Udhayanidhi Stalin and Priyank Kharge and the likes of people from the Samajwadi Party and RJD, they are boycotting journalists. It shows how they want to divide and rule the media,” Poonawalla.
He added that this shows the INDIA alliance’s “insecurity”.
“Within 15 minutes of this fatwa being launched, Samajwadi Party’s was already in a debate on Chitra Tripathi’s show. It shows that they don’t have a consensus among their own party members on these matters. Also, there are a couple of people on the list who do not do debate shows, for example Sudhir Chaudhary and Sushant Sinha. So, this is not a list to boycott anchors, this is a list to target them. I foresee that fake cases will be filed against these anchors and they will be intimidated in Congress-ruled and non-BJP ruled states,” he added.
