Following violence and targeted misinformation campaign against Hindus in Leicester and Birmingham, the Indian diaspora is set to stage a protest against the UK’s state media, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for peddling anti-Hindu and anti-India narratives, particularly during Leicester violence.
A Twitter user by the username @/indicsociety tweeted, “Indian diaspora in Britain have finally woken up to the deliberate Anti-Hindu & Anti-India narrative being peddled by organisations like the @/BBC and @/Guardian. We implore you to join us to demonstrate against hedonistic organisations like this indulging in blatant lie-telling.”
The BBC on September 24, published an article titled “Leicester: Why the violent unrest was surprising to many?.” In this article, there was a mention of the 2002 Gujarat Riots, and that more than 50 Hindus were burnt alive in a fire on a train. In this article, it was deliberately not mentioned what led to that fire. The fact that it was a Muslim mob that burnt 59 Karsevaks alive.
Gayatri, a Twitter user wrote, “The @BBCNews should apologize for this piece of lies & biased reporting. “The truth is 59 Hindu karsevaks, who were returning from a pilgrimage from Ram Janmabhoomi, were burnt alive by Muslim Mob” & not a fire on a train killed Hindu pilgrims.”
Notably, in the case of Leicester violence, BBC had in its reports indirectly blamed Hindus for the violence and misinformation. BBC also claimed that there is a theory that a “small South Asian community with conservative views” started the tension.
The protest against BBC is announced days after several British Hindus had gathered in front of the Guardian News office in London to stage a protest against the Guardian’s misleading and biased coverage of the Leicester violence. The protestors had blamed Guardian journalists Jessica Murray, Aina J Khan, and Rajeev Syal for Hindu-hate-filled articles and misleading coverage.
They also submitted a memorandum to the Guardian’s chief of security. The protesters have demanded a response to the letter, which was addressed to Katharine Viner, editor of the media outlet.
The British mainstream media, which Include the Guardian and the BBC, found themselves nabbed in a web of misreporting by their journos and writers-eventually establishing an agenda in lieu of radical Muslims. Many of the falsities published by these media outlets in the UK only served to fuel anti-Hindu sentiment.