After facing severe flak from many readers for promoting hatred towards Hindus by stating that Unity March in Delhi’s Hauz Qazi was ‘marred’ with Jai Shri Ram slogans, the India Today group has retracted from its stance and have removed the Hinduphobic statement.
India Today in its report on the Unity March that happened in Delhi’s Hauz Qazi neighbourhood, said that the procession was ‘marred’ with slogans of Jai Shri Ram. The march was organised after a trifle parking row escalated into a communal flare-up leading to the desecration of a Hindu temple by a Muslim mob and the subsequent vandalisation of idols in the temple.
The assertion that a spiritually edifying chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ vitiates the atmosphere and fuels the communal tensions is a highly controversial and unacceptable contention and it betrays the deep-seated hatred against Hindus harboured by media outlets. However, after objection raised by many readers alleging that it vilified Hinduism, India Today seems to have amended the report and removed the Hinduphobic statement.
Already the mainstream media had gone overboard in hushing up the temple vandalism matter and giving communal mob of Muslims a free pass. Most of the media organisations had published an image of Muslims serving food to Hindus at the event as a symbol of communal harmony. However, the Hindu activists contrasted the claim made by these media outlets and asserted that the Muslims were there only for photo-ops.
The media houses also showed an astonishing insensitivity towards the Hindu sentiments when they called newly installed ‘Murtis’ in the temple as ‘Statues’. Hindus accord the highest of regards for the ‘Murtis’ as they embody their Gods and Goddesses. To reduce them to mere statues shows the media’s disregard for Hindu beliefs.
