A report on the communal violence that devastated northeast Delhi in 2020 says “anti-Muslim prejudice” was a “running thread” on TV news channels around the time.

The TV media projected the protests against the Narendra Modi government’s citizenship law, particularly at Shaheen Bagh, “as conspiratorial and violent”, says the report titled “Uncertain Justice: A Citizens Committee Report on the North East Delhi Violence 2020”. It was put together by retired judges Madan B Lokur, AP Shah, Anjana Prakash, RS Sodhi, and former bureaucrat GK Pillai.

“The open accusations of criminality made against anti-CAA protesters, first as a block, and then against individuals, were highly irresponsible, particularly given the extent to which accusations were shaped and spread. In a signal of the gravity, the Delhi High Court was compelled to give stern warnings against the conduct of any kind of ‘media trial’ and directed the police to stop leaking documents or leads in cases concerning individuals to media sources,” the report says.

The report includes a content analysis of six leading television news channels – Republic TV, Republic Bharat, Times Now, India TV, Zee News, Aaj Tak. “Our analysis of the episodes selected across the six channels reveals that these instances of violence were employed to build a broad narrative to vilify the anti-CAA protests. The coverage appeared to portray the protests as single-handedly responsible for the unfolding violence,” the report points out.

The report cites a segment from Republic TV that aired on December 16, 2019 and notes that it was “punctuated with flashing text, such as ‘Using Rights Excuse for Riots?’.” The anchor repeatedly called the protesters “potential terrorists” who were trying to incite communal violence.

A Zee News show telecast on January 27, 2020 was titled “Kya Ab Shaheen Bagh Jaane Ke Liye Visa Lagega?” Do we need a visa to enter Shaheen Bagh now?

“In the show,” the report says, “the anchor compared Shaheen Bagh to conflict sites like Kashmir and Syria in an attempt to characterise the protest site as violent and aggressive.”

This story was originally published in newslaundry.com. Read the full story here