The British Telecom regulator Ofcom suspended the license issued to pro-Khalistan media network Khalsa Television Ltd or KTV after an investigation found out that the Khalistani channel had breached broadcasting rules.
According to the official statement, the Ofcom investigation found that Prime Time, a 95-minute live discussion programme on KTV, incited violence. The KTV television channel caters to the Sikh community in the United Kingdom.
During the show, the presenter of the programme had issued provocative statements that promoted violent action, including murder, as an acceptable and necessary form of action to further the Khalistani cause. This was a serious breach of our rules on incitement of crime and disorder, the Ofcom order said.
“Given the serious nature of this breach, and for the reasons set out in our suspension notice, we are today suspending Khalsa Television Limited’s licence to broadcast in the UK with immediate effect,” the order read.
Following the violation of rules, Khalsa Television Limited has been given 21 days to appeal against the ban imposed by Ofcom.
Khalistani network had called for violence against India
This is not the first time that the pro-Khalistani outlet has been caught inciting violence. Last year in February, the United Kingdom’s media watchdog had imposed a fine of 50,000 pounds on the pro-Khalistan network – Khalsa Television Ltd or KTV, for broadcasting hateful content and a discussion programme that asked British Sikhs to commit violence and also contained a terror reference.
The British media regulator – Office of Communications (Ofcom) had warned KTV not to broadcast such inflammatory content or the discussion programme found in breach of its rules.
The video and the show advocated violent action against the Indian state and glorified violent acts promoting Sikh secessionist movements. They had encouraged violence toward those who criticised the Sikh faith and legitimised a terrorist organisation. The music video had images of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which Ofcom considered the “video’s narrative of advocating violent action against the Indian state”.
The video had a caricature of Indira Gandhi with blood dripping from her mouth, accompanied by the caption, “You drank the blood of innocents, you evil woman”. The lyrics read, “Warriors will destroy your kingdom”, which had images of flames superimposed on the Red Fort in Delhi.
KTV is a television channel broadcasting largely to the Sikh community in the United Kingdom under a licence held by Khalsa Television Limited.
