News regulator censures ‘Zee News’ for programmes allegedly stigmatising Muslims

The News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority has censured Zee News for broadcasting allegedly misleading and communally sensitive content that relied on unverified material to falsely implicate Muslims, Bar and Bench reported.

Retired Justice AK Sikri, the chairperson of the news regulator, held in two May 19 orders that the broadcasts on the TV channel violated core principles of accuracy, verification and communal harmony.

The regulator directed the channel to remove the content in one case and issued a warning in the other.

In one matter, a complainant highlighted a show on Zee News about an incident during the Kanwar Yatra in Delhi where broken glass was found scattered on a road.

During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees, called Kanwariyas, walk hundreds of kilometres to collect water from the Ganga near Haridwar and carry it back to their home states to offer at temples. The devotees mainly come from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.

The glass had been reportedly shattered after an e-rickshaw carrying glass panels was hit. However, during a broadcast on July 13, 2025, the channel conducted a debate allegedly framing the incident as a possible deliberate conspiracy targeting the pilgrims, Bar and Bench reported.

The programme was found to have leading questions by the anchor, amplified claims made by some participants and broadcast...

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