On Thursday (1st February), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) attempted to rationalise its propaganda piece against the newly constructed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
The UK’s national broadcaster published a contentious article titled ‘Ayodhya Ram Mandir: India PM Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on razed Babri mosque site‘ on 22nd January this year i.e. the occasion of Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha.
After receiving complaints from Hindu readers about the misleading nature of the article, BBC put out a statement shamelessly defending its anti-Hindu propaganda.
In a statement, it claimed, “Some readers felt that the article was biased against Hindus and used inflammatory language. They also objected to us reporting in the headline that the temple had been built on the site of a 16th- Century mosque which we explained in the second paragraph of the story had been “torn down by Hindu mobs in 1992”.”
It further stated,”We believe that to be a fair and accurate account of what happened. We also mentioned that “many Hindus believe the Babri mosque was built by Muslim invaders on the ruins of a temple where the Hindu god (Ram) was born” and we provided more context, reporting on the 2019 Indian Supreme Court judgement which gave the disputed land to Hindus, who form 80% of India’s population.”
While completely ignoring allegations of anti-Hindu propaganda, BBC asserted, We do not agree that the article was demeaning to Hindus. Quoting Mr Modi who said it was a “historic occasion”, we reported on the ceremony and on the celebrations in India and in other countries too.”
BBC downplays evidence of pre-existing Ram Mandir under disputed structure
On 22nd January, the BBC published an article alleging that a Ram Mandir is being built at a site where a 16th-century mosque (Babri Masjid) stood at one point in time.
The UK’s national broadcaster conveniently ignored the fact that a Ram Mandir existed underneath the disputed structure, which was constructed in the 16th century after destroying the ancient temple.
As such, a new Ram Mandir is being rebuilt not at the site of a demolished mosque but at the site of a destroyed temple. The BBC conveniently avoided this important context to allege the ‘destruction’ of an Islamic place of worship and not a disputed structure.
While ignoring the evidence presented by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) about the existence of a temple underneath the disputed structure, the BBC claimed, “Many Hindus believe the Babri mosque was built by Muslim invaders on the ruins of a temple where the Hindu god was born.”
The UK’s national broadcaster thus attempted to give a clean chit to Islamic invaders and decried the ASI findings as mere beliefs of the Hindu community.
“Critics have also accused the government of exploiting a religious celebration in a country which – according to its constitution – is secular. For Muslims, India’s biggest minority, the event evoked fear and painful memories, members of the community in Ayodhya told the BBC in the run-up to Monday’s ceremony,” BBC continued with its fear mongering.
BBC journalist had previously whitewashed gangster Atiq Ahmed
The propaganda piece ”Ayodhya Ram Mandir: India PM Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on razed Babri mosque site‘ was authored by BBC ‘journalists’ Geeta Pandey and Yogita Limaye.
Interestingly, Geeta Pandey is the same scribe who tried to create a sympathy wave for deceased gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed in April 2023.
In her piece titled ‘Atiq Ahmed: The brazen murder of an Indian mafia don-turned-politician,’ Pandey went on to weave a sorry tale around Ahmed’s childhood days. “The 60-year-old was born in a poor family in Prayagraj and was a school dropout…” the report read.
Atiq Ahmed was "Robin Hood, a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde type of character" who helped poor people, paying for weddings & school uniforms, gave money during Eid. But this persona unravelled with mounting accusations of heinous crimes. My report for @BBCIndia https://t.co/KiyVYepslA
— GeetaPandeyBBC (@geetapandeyBBC) April 16, 2023
Hinting at a rags-to-riches story, she added, “…But over the years he amassed huge wealth, enjoyed political patronage and power and came to wield immense influence in the city of his birth and beyond.”
Citing former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh, Geeta Pandey highlighted how the gangster Atiq Ahmed was a sort of ‘Robinhood’ who helped people in distress. “(He) spent lavishly to help poor people – paying for weddings, giving them money during Eid festivals, and helping poor women buy school uniforms and books for their children,” she quoted Singh as saying.
The BBC journalist also cast doubts on the police encounter of Asad Ahmed, the son of Atiq Ahmed, but decided to not delve into the details of his criminal activity. Coincidentally, she was able to find a 40-year-old anonymous ‘Muslim’ man, who was left wondering whether the assassination of Atiq Ahmed was related to his Islamic Faith.
OpIndia had reported how Geeta Pandey has been involved in peddling anti-India propaganda in the guise of ‘good journalism.’ The BBC journalist had also batted for fake news peddler Prashant Bhushan in an article titled ‘India finds an unlikely hero in lawyer-activist.’
Geeta Pandey has also tried to discredit ‘love jihad’ as a conspiracy theory, despite 100s of documented cases of forced conversion and identity fraud.
Complaints against BBC
British MP Bob Blackman, who was felicitated with Padma Shri in 2020, lashed out at the BBC in the House of Commons.
“Sadly, BBC reported that it was the site of the destruction of a mosque, forgetting that it had been a temple for more than 2,000 years before that, and that the Muslims had been allocated a five-acre site adjacent to the town on which to erect a mosque,” he pointed out.
” (We need a debate on) the impartiality of the BBC and its failure to provide a decent record of what is going on all over the world,” Bob Blackman emphasised.
“
🛕Constituents have raised concerns surrounding the BBC's biased reporting of the #RamMandir temple.
— Bob Blackman (@BobBlackman) February 2, 2024
🇬🇧🤝🇮🇳 As an avid supporter of the rights of Hindus, this article has caused great disharmony.
🌏The BBC must be able to provide a decent record of what is going across the world. pic.twitter.com/htSzyey2u4
Hindu advocacy group ‘INSIGHT UK’ also sent its complaint to the BBC and called out the broadcaster for clear omission of facts.
It pointed out, “(The article) repeatedly mentions actions taken by Hindus and the Indian government against Muslims without properly considering why the Mosque was demolished and a new Temple built. It ignores key scientific evidence found till much later and instead states “Many Hindus believe Muslim emperor Babur destroyed a Temple”. It is not just Hindus who believe this, in fact it was KK Muhammad, a Muslim archaeologist that found the evidence that a Hindu Temple stood there.”
On Wednesday 24th January, INSIGHT UK sent a complaint to the @BBC , @Ofcom and the @UKHouseofLords as a rebuttal to the inflammatory BBC article and serious concerns that it could increase the risk of public disorder amongst British communities.@DCMS pic.twitter.com/26l0Nt5Tpg
— INSIGHT UK (@INSIGHTUK2) January 28, 2024
“By the use of the word “believe” and the omission of the facts above, it creates a doubt as to the veracity of the Hindu case for building a Temple, or more properly, rebuilding the Temple in Ayodhya,” it pointed out.
“The article does not mention how many other Mosques were built over religious structures worldwide. For example how the Hagia Sophia was previously a Church that was turned into a Mosque. It fails to mention that the Hindu Temple was originally destroyed by Mughals, led by a Muslim ruler that was barbaric to the locals. The removal of Babri was the Hindu equivalent of the BLM movement to remove oppressive structures. Often these structures were made by enforcing jizya tax on Hindus by Muslim rulers. This is a serious omission of fact and balance, by not stating that the original Hindu Temple was destroyed by Muslims to build the Mosque,” INSIGHT UK concluded.
