Swaggerdeevs at 21:24, 3 February 2023

2023-02-03T21:24:24Z

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{{Short description|Indian news channel}}
{{Use dmy dates}}{{Use Indian English}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name = Sudarshan News
| logo = SudarshanNewsLogo.png
| logo_size =
| launch_date = 9 August 2005
| type = Right Wing News channel
| picture_format = [[16:9]] [[576i]] ([[SDTV]])
| network = [[Terrestrial television|Broadcast television]] and online
| owner = [[Suresh Chavhanke]]
| country = India
| language = [[Hindi]]
| headquarters = A-84, Sector 57, [[Noida, Uttar Pradesh]], India
| website = {{URL|http://www.sudarshannews.in}}
}}
'''Sudarshan News''' is an Indian [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]]{{refn|name=right-wing|<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jafri |first1=Alishan |title=The 'Hindutva Ecosystem' Has a New Anti-Muslim Narrative. This Time Street Vendors Are the Target. |url=https://thewire.in/communalism/hindutva-ecosystem-muslim-fruit-sellers-threat-india |website=[[The Wire (India)|The Wire]] |access-date=19 February 2022 |date=28 June 2021 |quote=Sudarshan News, a far-right TV channel often accused of broadcasting hatred against Muslims, reported the Uttam Nagar protest in an extremely inflammatory manner. Throughout the show, Sudarshan reporter Sagar Kumar and anchor Shubham Tripathi referred to Muslims as 'jihadis' and used other derogatory terms.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Nair |first1=Anagha Subhash |title=Hindu extremists in India escalate rhetoric with calls to kill Muslims |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hindu-extremists-india-escalate-rhetoric-calls-kill-muslims-rcna12450 |website=[[NBC News]] |access-date=19 February 2022 |language=en |quote=Speaking in Delhi, Suresh Chavhanke, editor of the right-wing outlet Sudarshan News, administered an oath to attendees that "until our last breath, to make India a Hindu nation, keep it a Hindu-only nation, we will fight and die, and if required we will kill as well."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mehta |first1=Archit |last2=Zubair |first2=Mohammed |title=How disinformation led to the attack on missionary school in MP by right-wing groups |url=https://www.altnews.in/how-disinformation-led-to-the-attack-on-missionary-school-in-mp-by-right-wing-groups/ |website=[[Alt News]] |access-date=19 February 2022 |quote=Several other right-wing channels have also amplified the false "conversion narrative", including Sudarshan News. The disinformation led to violence when Class XII students were giving a mathematics exam and barely escaped the attack.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hassan |first1=Jakir |title=Sudarshan News Shares Video Of Teacher Punishing His Student With False Communal Narrative |url=https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/hindu-boy-beaten-by-christian-teacher-for-wearing-rudraksha-31301 |website=The Logical Indian |access-date=19 February 2022 |language=en |quote=Sudarshan News, an Indian right-wing news channel, posted a video on Twitter with a communal narrative. The video shows a classroom where a boy is being brutally beaten by the teacher with a stick. The video shows the teacher repeatedly kicking him with his feet.}}</ref>}} [[news channel]].<ref name=":3" /> It was founded in 2005 by [[Suresh Chavhanke]], the chairman and [[editor-in-chief]].<ref name="Held_express">{{cite news|last1=Bharadwaj|first1=Ashutosh|title=Held for 'promoting truth', TV channel head is proud of it|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/channel-not-business-whatever-i-am-is-due-to-rss-sudarshan-news-cmd-4612317/|access-date=2 April 2018|agency=Express News Service|publisher=Indian Express|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402230212/http://indianexpress.com/article/india/channel-not-business-whatever-i-am-is-due-to-rss-sudarshan-news-cmd-4612317/|archive-date=2 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
Chavhanke was a long-term volunteer of the Hindu nationalist organisation [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), also associating with [[Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad]], the student wing of RSS.<ref name="Held_express" /> He asserts that he practices ideology-driven journalism<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://theprint.in/india/governance/the-hindi-news-channel-editor-who-thrives-on-provoking-hindu-muslim-sentiments/158947/|title=The Hindi news channel editor who 'thrives on provoking' Hindu, Muslim sentiments|last=Dutta|first=Amrita Nayak|website=ThePrint|language=en-US|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref> and prefers that the news programs on his channel be viewed as opinionated campaigns.<ref name="Held_express" />

The channel has been widely criticised for blatant [[Communalism (South Asia)|communal]] broadcasting.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Held_express" /><ref name=":1" />

== Reception ==

=== Hate speech ===
In April 2017, Chavhanke was arrested for allegedly inciting [[Communalism (South Asia)|communal hatred]] through multiple episodes of a flagship program.<ref name="Held_express" /><ref name=":1" /> He secured bail two days later.

In 2020, [[Hemant Soren]], the [[Chief Minister]] of [[Jharkhand]], ordered state police to take action against Chavhanke for this [[hate speech]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Angad |first1=Abhishek |title=Police probing Sudarshan News editor Suresh Chavhanke's speech: Hemant Soren |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/police-probing-sudarshan-news-channel-editors-speech-hemant-soren-6307449/ |access-date=25 May 2020 |work=The Indian Express }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://theprint.in/india/sudarshan-news-top-editor-does-it-again-now-calls-for-economic-boycott-of-rioters/378307/|title=Sudarshan News top editor does it again, now calls for economic boycott of 'rioters'|last=Jha|first=Fiza|website=ThePrint|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref>

Chavhanke claims to have contributed towards the [[Ochlocracy|ochlocratic]] atmosphere that led to police complaints and death threats against [[M. F. Husain]] for allegedly violating Hindu sentiments. As a result, Husain left India on a self-imposed exile until his death.<ref name="Held_express" />

=== Alleged Anti-Muslim fear-mongering propaganda ===
Dissemination of [[Islamophobia|anti-Muslim]] content to manufacturing actual news with neutral overtones has been alleged.<ref name=":1" /> Critics allege the channel as "bigoted" and "dangerous" for its communal-toned fake news.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/10/28/bloodlust-tv-bigotry-on-suresh-chavhankes-sudarshan-news-sponsored-by-the-taxpayer|title=Hindu TV: Honourable Suresh Chavhanke's Sudarshan News, sponsored by the taxpayer|last=Meghnad|first=S|work=Newslaundry}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.altnews.in/sudarshan-news-and-its-history-of-dangerous-communally-divisive-misinformation/|title=Sudarshan News and its alleged history of dangerous, communally-divisive misinformation|last=Chaudhuri|first=Pooja|website=Alt News|language=en-GB|access-date=3 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelallantop.com/bherant/profile-of-suresh-chavhanke-controversial-editor-of-sudarshan-news/|title=कौन हैं सुरेश चव्हाणके |last=Vishal|website=LallanTop|language=hi|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref> Hilal Ahmed, a professor of [[Centre for the Study of Developing Societies]], alleges a call for extrajudicial lynching of Muslims, who refused to chant a particular slogan in praise of the motherland, whilst discussing the context of [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]] discourse in media and its role in creating the stereotypical image of Indian Muslims.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzKUDwAAQBAJ|title=Siyasi Muslims: A Story of Political Islams in India|last=Ahmed|first=Hilal|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited|isbn=9789353055127|pages=43|language=en}}</ref>

In June 2018, the Delhi Minorities Commission issued a notice to the channel after it broadcast a program that claimed a Muslim-dominated region was inhabited by illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/tv-channel-labels-minorities-rohingyas-bangladeshis|title=TV Channel Pulled up After Calling Delhi infiltrators 'Rohingyas'|website=The Quint|language=en|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/delhi-hc-refuses-to-vacate-stay-on-sudarshan-tv-show-after-controversy/story-xVJQ0Zs6aBJB2pjAapyOjO.html|title = Delhi HC refuses to vacate stay on Sudarshan TV show after controversy|date = 29 August 2020}}</ref>

On 25 August 2020, a Sudarshan News trailer uploaded by [[Suresh Chavhanke]] suggesting that Muslim students were infiltrating [[Union Public Service Commission|administrative services]] as "UPSC [[jihad]]," became viral. It was heavily condemned, including by former senior bureaucrats, judges, and the Home Minister. Broadcast of the actual TV programme was stayed by the Delhi High Court and the matter is ''sub-judice''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Krishnan|first=Revathi|title=Not just stay, need action against Sudarshan News for 'UPSC jihad' show, say ex-civil servants|url=https://theprint.in/india/not-just-stay-need-action-against-sudarshan-news-for-upsc-jihad-show-say-ex-civil-servants/493669/|access-date=2020-09-04|website=ThePrint|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="IANS">{{Cite news|last=IANS|title=Take action against Sudarshan TV, former civil servants urge Amit Shah|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/take-action-against-sudarshan-tv-former-civil-servants-urge-amit-shah-120090101924_1.html|access-date=2020-09-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Communal and divisive: Ex-bureaucrats demand strong action against Sudarshan TV|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/sep/02/communal-and-divisive-ex-bureaucrats-demand-strong-action-against-sudarshan-tv-2191363.html|access-date=2020-09-04|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Telecast of progranme on Muslim 'infiltration' in government services: No HC breather for Sudarshan TV|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/aug/30/telecast-of-progranme-on-muslim-infiltration-in-government-services-no-hc-breather-for-sudarshan-2190213.html|access-date=2020-09-04|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=UPSC Jihad: Suresh Chavhanke of Sudarshan TV could never have cleared the UPSC|url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/upsc-jihad-suresh-chavhanke-of-sudarshan-tv-could-never-havecleared-the-upsc|access-date=2020-09-04|website=National Herald|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sudarshan-tv-served-showcause-notice-over-bindas-bol-programme-centre-tells-sc-6607719/|title = Sudarshan TV showcause over programme code 'violation': Centre to SC|date = 24 September 2020}}</ref>

=== Fake news ===
On multiple occasions, Sudarshan News was found to be spreading [[fake news]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.altnews.in/sudarshan-news-and-its-history-of-dangerous-communally-divisive-misinformation/|title=Sudarshan News and its history of dangerous, communally-divisive misinformation|last=Chaudhuri|first=Pooja|website=Alt News|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref> In 2019, the channel broadcast an old video, which was morphed with slogans calling for the killings of RSS workers. In 2014, fake quotes were attributed to [[Shah Rukh Khan|Shahrukh Khan]] by the news channel.<ref name=":3" /> During the [[2020 Delhi riots|Delhi riots of 2020]], the channel was found to be spreading communally charged fake news.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.altnews.in/sudarshan-news-broadcasts-fake-news-about-woman-murdered-in-tahir-hussains-house/|title=Sudarshan News broadcasts fake news about woman murdered in Tahir Hussain's house|last=Mehta|first=Archit|website=Alt News|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-20}}</ref>

In March 2019, a [[Kozhikode]] district court ordered the channel to pay a compensation of {{INRConvert|50|l|lk=on}} to [[Malabar Gold and Diamonds|Malabar Gold]] in a defamation suit, after it broadcast edited visuals alleging the company of having celebrated [[Independence Day (Pakistan)|Pakistani Independence Day]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Malabar Gold wins suit against TV Channel |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/malabar-gold-wins-suit-against-channel/articleshow/68338932.cms |access-date=25 May 2020 |work=The Times of India }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kerala Court slaps Rs.50Lac defamation notice against Sudershan TV for airing Fake-news |url=https://millichronicle.com/2019/03/kerala-court-slaps-rs-50lac-defamation-notice-against-sudershan-tv-for-fakenews/ |access-date=25 May 2020 |work=[[The Milli Gazette|The Milli Chronicle]] }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{url|www.sudarshannews.in|Official site}}

{{Television news in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudarshan News}}
[[Category:Hindi-language television channels in India]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 2007]]
[[Category:24-hour television news channels in India]]
[[Category:Hindutva]]

Sudarshan News - Revision history

Swaggerdeevs at 21:24, 3 February 2023