After being hit by violent protests last week over the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act, Murshidabad in West Bengal is gradually limping back to normalcy. More than 200 have been arrested so far over the violence that claimed three lives.
Meanwhile, if mainstream news channels are to be believed, the eastern West Bengal district is a hub of “terrorism” where a “Hindu exodus” is underway as government authorities look the other way.
There have been reports of hundreds fleeing their homes to escape the violence. But no substantiated evidence has emerged so far confirming systematic targeting based on religious identity at such a scale. The narrative of Hindus being specifically victimised has primarily originated from Hindutva-affiliated sources and political actors, especially the BJP camp.
While the West Bengal government and the state police are yet to make any official statements about claims of Hindus being forced to “flee” Murshidabad, the Calcutta High Court has asked the state and the central government to submit detailed reports on the situation.
Coverage of the violence by legacy newspapers has been largely in line with Press Council of India guidelines, which mandate avoiding provocative language and reporting on the communal identities of the victims to prevent further divisions. But news channels have thrown all regulations out the window and made unsubstantiated claims about Hindus becoming “refugees in their own country”.
Some invoked the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, some claimed a “terrorist” link to the violence, while some alleged a Bangladesh connection.
Times Now Navbharat
Anchor Sushant Sinha began his popular show, News Ki Pathshala, on Times Now Navbharat by claiming that AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has been mum on the violence in Bengal.
“Aise toh chati peeth lete hain. ‘Ek aur masjid shahid nahi hone donnga.’ Aur Hinduon pe attyachar ho raha hai toh ‘Bengal sarkar ke pravakta nahi hai’. Ek baar Owaisi ko suniye (Usually he grieves. ‘We will not let one more masjid be sacrificed.’ And when Hindus are attacked, they say, ‘Not a spokesperson of Bengal government’),” said Sinha, as the show aired a clip of Owaisi interacting with the media.
The clip begins with Owaisi saying he is not the spokesperson for the Bengal government nor any other government. “West Bengal has competent people who can answer your question better,” said the AIMIM chief.
However, the Times Now Navbharat clip excluded the reporter’s question before Owaisi’s reply. In an unedited clip released by ANI, Owaisi is asked if the Bengal government will enforce the new Waqf Act, as earlier, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had stated that she will not enforce the legislation in her state. In a follow-up question on the Bengal violence during the same interaction, Owaisi replied that his party has “always condemned violence and will keep doing that. Protests should be peaceful. Violence of any kind is condemnable.”
Owaisi’s call for peace and condemnation of the violence was conveniently skipped by the channel.
Sinha then invokes the plight of Kashmiri Pandits while talking of families fleeing their homes in Murshidabad to go to Malda. He says that in a nation of more than 100 Hindus, there exists a place where they have been made to “pick up their bags and leave”.
“1990 ke dashak mein, jab Kashmiri Panditon ko mara gaya, kata gaya, bhagaya gaya, tab bhi us waqt ke Census ke hisab se 70 crore Hindu the. Aur aaj ki date pe, 100 crore Hindu ka desh mein lekin aisa jagah hai jisme Hindu bag uthake ja raha hai. (In the 1990s, when Kashmiri Pandits were killed, assaulted, and chased away, the Hindu population was 70 crore, according to the Census. Today, when there are 100 crore Hindus in the country, there’s a place in the country where Hindus have to pick up their bags and leave),” he claimed.
Aaj Tak
Aaj Tak’s thumbnail for its primetime show Black and White suggested that the controversial Waqf Act had “snatched” Hindu homes. “Waqf kanoon ne Hinduon ke ghar kaise cheen liye?” read the thumbnail text of the episode on Murshidabad violence.
Anjana Om Kashyap, the show’s anchor, claimed that some anti-Waqf Act protestors in Bengal said that they don’t believe in the Constitution of India. The anchor did not back up her claims with any evidence whatsoever.
She then repeated an unverified claim that several Bangladeshi Muslims entered Bengal and increased the Muslim population in Murshidabad, leading to Hindus becoming a minority there. She then pointed out that the first case of violence over the new Waqf Act was reported from Murshidabad.
She compared the Bengal protests to a protest in Italy against the European Union’s armament agenda, stating “we should learn a thing or two from them”. She then haphazardly concluded a link between anti-Israel protests in Bangladesh with the anti-Waqf sentiment in India before ending the show. “There is no difference in their mentality.”
Zee News
Zee News had a field day with its ticker messages. During one of its debate shows, Taal Thok Ke, one of the tickers read, “Mohallah mohallah dangai… Hinduon mein khauf hai!”
The show was littered with several such inciting ticker messages.
“Danga ka keher… Pani mein jahar… Hindu jai kidhar?”
“#HinduOnTarget”
“Dange ka Musalman factor… Hindu virodhi character?”
“‘Bhaijaan’ ka bhadkau plan”
“#WaqfPerDangaModel”
Despite no official reports on how the protests started, the channel alleged there was a terror connection to the protests in Murshidabad. In big bold text in the middle of the screen, the channel displayed, “Murshidabad hinsa ka terror connection! Hinsa ke peeche Bangladeshi aatanki sanghathan.”
How Bengali media covered the violence
ABP Ananda (the television arm of Ananda Bazaar Patrika) highlighted how the police reportedly arrived four hours after the incident in Samserganj, where a father and son – Hargobindo Das (72) and Chandan Das (40) – were hacked to death on Saturday. The family claimed they had repeatedly called the police, but by the time help arrived, everything was over.
In other segments, ABP Ananda focused on the narrative of Hindus becoming refugees in their own country.
In one segment, the anchor said, “The anguish of Partition has resurfaced. From the unrest surrounding the Waqf issue, flames of violence have erupted in Murshidabad; people have abandoned their homes overnight. Unable to endure the relentless atrocities of miscreants, one family after another from Bedbona village has been forced to cross the river and seek refuge in Malda's Baishnabnagar…Among the displaced are Brahmin families who have taken shelter here.”
ABP Ananda also aired segments on residents fleeing Murshidabad and relocating to Malda.
Republic Bangla
Republic Bangla said the two victims were attacked because they were Hindu.
Anchor Santu Pan said, “Jaffrabad in Murshidabad, our Bengal, a part of our India – in that part, a father and son have been brutally hacked to death just for being Sanatani Hindus, for wearing sacred beads around their necks…The local people have said they don’t trust the police, only central forces can ensure our safety.”
TV9 Bangla
TV9 Bangla ventured into international conspiracy territory, weaving a complex tale of cross-border meetings and infiltration without concrete evidence.
It ran a segment with the headline: বাংলাদেশিদের বৈঠকে হামলার ব্লুপ্রিন্ট তৈরি? — which translates to “Was a blueprint for attacks prepared at a Bangladeshi meeting?”
The anchor said, “Bangladeshi miscreants are involved in the unrest. The BSF suspects influential individuals from Bangladesh’s Nawabganj may have allowed these miscreants to enter through unguarded areas between the two districts. They speculate that these Bangladeshi miscreants have infiltrated Indian territory. The pattern of looting and attacks on police in Bangladesh is being replicated here in the same manner. The miscreants have held meetings with influential figures from Bangladesh in unguarded border areas, and it is from these meetings that the unrest has been incited and fueled.”
Correction on April 21: The quotes attributed to a News18 India report were from an old video published by the channel. They have been removed.
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