Why is BBC India facing criticism over Pahalgam terror attack?
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has once again come under criticism in India, this time over its coverage of the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.
On April 22, terrorists opened fire and killed 26 people, mostly tourists, at the Baisaran meadow near the picturesque town.
Officials told Hindustan Times on Monday that the Indian government has issued a formal letter to the BBC, expressing strong disapproval of its coverage of the Pahalgam attack, particularly objecting to the description of terrorists as 'militants'.
According to PTI news agency, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) communicated India's strong sentiments to Jackie Martin, BBC's India Head, regarding the network's coverage of the Pahalgam incident.
'A formal letter has been sent to the BBC on terming terrorists as militants. The External Publicity Division of the MEA will be monitoring the reporting of the BBC,' an official was quoted as saying by PTI.
Separately, officials said the Indian government has blocked 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading provocative, communally sensitive, and misleading narratives against India, its Army, and security forces following the Pahalgam attack.
The blocked YouTube channels include: Dawn News, Irshad Bhatti, SAMAA TV, ARY NEWS, BOL NEWS, Raftar, The Pakistan Referenc, Geo News, Samaa Sports, GNN, Uzair Cricket, Umar Cheema Exclusive, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, SUNO News, and Razi Naama.
Before the current controversy surrounding the Pahalgam terror attack coverage, the BBC faced criticism in 2023 when the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the UK organisation. The notice was based on a suit filed by a Gujarat-based NGO, which alleged that the BBC's documentary 'India: The Modi Question' defamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary.
The two-part documentary focused on the 2002 Gujarat riots, when Modi served as the state's chief minister. The first part was released on January 18, 2023, and the second on January 24, 2023, on the BBC's website https://bbc.co.uk and aired on its UK-based television channel 'BBC Two'.
The UK's national broadcaster has defended the film, saying it 'was rigorously researched according to the highest editorial standards', while the Indian government dismissed the documentary as 'propaganda' and a product of the 'colonial mindset'.
In January of that year, the BJP government directed video-sharing platform YouTube to remove the documentary and asked Twitter to remove related posts. In February, the Supreme Court rejected a public interest litigation that sought a ban on the BBC in India, calling the petition 'completely misconceived'.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also initiated a FEMA investigation against BBC India in April 2023, following findings from the Income Tax Department's three-day survey at the broadcaster's offices in Delhi and other cities in February that year.
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