Last week, the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority pulled up five national and regional television news channels for airing eight broadcasts that promoted the “love jihad” conspiracy theory based on a fictional letter printed in an NCERT Class 3 environmental science textbook.
The order came in response to complaints filed by media researcher Indrajeet Ghorpade and advocate Utkarsh Mishra, who alleged that the channels had turned a routine schoolbook excerpt, a letter written by a girl named Reena to a boy named Ahmad, into communalised programming, accusing NCERT of promoting “love jihad.”
In its order, NBDSA said the channels departed from objective reporting and violated the Code of Ethics by framing a secular textbook exercise as a religious conspiracy. “Merely because in a chapter of a NCERT textbook, it is shown that a girl writes a letter to a boy, who belonged to a different religion, was no reason to give the narrative of ‘love jihad,’” the authority noted.
NBDSA said the channels went beyond reporting on a parent’s complaint and “turned [it] into a debate… with a specific narrative,” without interviewing any counter-voices or education experts. It said some broadcasters relied on commentators “whose views are well known” and failed to present a range of perspectives. “The way programmes were structured clearly showed a lack of objectivity,” the order stated.
The authority directed News18 MP/Chhattisgarh, ABP News, Zee MP/Chhattisgarh, Zee News and India TV to remove the impugned videos from their websites, YouTube channels and all hyperlinks within seven days and confirm compliance in writing.
The questioned broadcasts, aired across 2023 and 2024, repeatedly described the Class 3 EVS chapter as a “love jihad” lesson, used sensational tickers and headlines, and amplified allegations by right-wing figures, including self-styled preacher Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham. Several segments featured no condemnations of the claims and avoided interviewing anyone critical of such narratives.
In two India TV broadcasts, tickers declared “NCERT ki kitab mein Love Jihad” and “Syllabus bana Love Jihad.” Shows on News18 echoed Shastri’s remarks, including his allegation that the textbook chapter was intended to “trap Hindu daughters,” while Zee News broadcast graphics depicting a woman split between a burqa and a ghunghat. ABP News amplified the controversy by highlighting the Reena-Ahmad names without contextual explanation.
Media-watch groups have repeatedly flagged major Indian news channels for using the term “jihad” in misleading ways — including “land jihad,” “narcotics jihad,” and “economic jihad” — despite the NBDSA issuing several prior orders cautioning broadcasters against communal or sensational framing. The latest ruling again underscores concerns that conspiracy-laden narratives continue to be mainstreamed through primetime television.
