BBC Hindi

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BBC Hindi
TypeRadio network and website
Country
United Kingdom & India
AvailabilityInternational
EndowmentForeign and Commonwealth Office, UK
OwnerBBC
Launch date
11 May 1940; 81 years ago (1940-05-11)[1]
Official website
www.bbc.com/hindi/
LanguageHindi

BBC Hindi is an international news service that broadcasts in the Hindi language. It started on 11 May 1940. Initially, the service operated through radio. Currently,[when?] it is operated on audio as well as website, TV and social networks.

In 2 December 2021, the BBC released its annual report showing the number of listeners, viewers and users, according to which India has the largest number of people using BBC services in the world.[2]

Controversy and criticism[]

Anti-Hindu bias and Indophobia[]

In The Hindu Business Line, the reporter Premen Addy criticised the BBC's reportage on South Asia as consistently anti-India and pro-Islamist,[3] underreporting India's economic and social achievements and political and diplomatic efforts and disproportionately highlighting and exaggerating problems in the country. In addition, Addy alluded to discrimination against Indian anchors and reporters in favour of Muslim Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who are hostile to India.

The journalist Christopher Booker also criticised the BBC for its coverage of India-related matters. He concludes that the BBC's efforts to reinforce stereotypes of South Asians has been directly responsible for damaging the image of India and encouraging racist incidents against Indians, such as the Leipzig University internship controversy.[4]

Writing for the 2008 edition of the peer-reviewed Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, analysed the coverage of India by the BBC from India's 1947 independence from British rule to 2008. Pinkerton observed a tumultuous history involving allegations of anti-India bias in the BBC's reportage, particularly during the Cold War, and concluded that the BBC's coverage of South Asian geopolitics and economics showed a pervasive and hostile anti-India bias because of the BBC's alleged imperialist and neocolonialist stance.[5]

In 2008, the BBC was criticised for referring to the men who carried out the November 2008 Mumbai attacks as "gunmen", rather than "terrorists," used to describe the attacks in UK.[6][7][8] In protest against the use of the word "gunmen" by the BBC, the journalist Mobashar Jawed "M.J." Akbar refused to take part in an interview after the Mumbai attacks[9] and criticised the BBC's reportage of the incident.[10] The British parliamentarian Stephen Pound has supported the claims by referring to the BBC's whitewashing of the terror attacks as "the worst sort of mealy mouthed posturing. It is desperation to avoid causing offence which ultimately causes more offence to everyone".[11]

Indian Army[]

The BBC has also been criticised for covering conflicts in South Asia with an anti-India bias. For instance, it made false allegations that the Indian Army stormed a sacred Muslim shrine, the tomb of Hazrat Sheikh Noor-u-din Noorani in Charari Sharief and retracted the claim only after strong criticism.[12]

Pakistani propaganda against India[]

A report from the BBC accused India of sponsoring Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a domestic party based from Karachi, to fund anti-Pakistani activities. However, the only source mentioned in the report was an "authoritative Pakistani source", rather than independent investigation.[13] The flawed reporting was severely criticised by India and journalists such as Barkha Dutt.[14] The report was extensively circulated in Pakistani domestic media to fuel propaganda and conspiracy theories.[15] In 2021, a BBC interview with political scientist Christine Fair was interrupted and Fair dismissed by News presenter Philippa Thomas when Fair began to elaborate on links between Pakistan and the Taliban. This invited further accusations of pro-Pakistan bias on the part of the BBC on social media .[16]

Anti-Hindu bias in UK[]

Hindu groups in the United Kingdom have accused the BBC of anti-Hindu bigotry and whitewashing Islamist hate groups that demonise the British Indian minority.[17]

In March 2012, the BBC referred to the Hindu festival of Holi as a "filthy festival". The Webster New World Dictionary defines "filthy" as "full of filth, disgustingly foul; grossly obscene; morally vicious or corrupt". The BBC apologised for the offence caused.[18] In December 2019, BBC published a story that claimed that "ghost studies" were being taught at the Banaras Hindu University. The British Hindu Press Association subsequently pointed out that Bhoot Vidya is a Sanskrit word for psychotherapy, not "ghost Studies", and added that this was a "deliberate attempt to mock and denigrate" Hinduism.[19]

In March 2015, BBC Hindi was criticised for broadcasting a documentary interviewing one of the rapists in India, despite a ban ordered by the Indian High Court.[20] In 2017, BBC Hindi was banned for a period of five years from covering all national parks and sanctuaries in India.[21]

References[]

  1. ^ Achala Sharma (6 February 2011). "Radio silence in Khandwa". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  2. ^ "बीबीसी के अंतरराष्ट्रीय ऑडियंस में भारत पहले पायदान पर बरक़रार - GAM रिपोर्ट" [India retains top spot in BBC's international audience - GAM report] (in Hindi). 2 December 2021.
    - "भारत का 20 लाख साल पुराना इतिहास देखेंगे?" [Will you see a 20 million year old history of India?] (in Hindi). 1 January 2018. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. ^ Addy, Premen (22 May 2001). "Punchy start to the British election". Blonnet.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  4. ^ Booker, Christopher (14 March 2015). "Why to blacken India on rape do they have to omit the facts?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  5. ^ Pinkerton, Alasdair (October 2008). "A new kind of imperialism? The BBC, cold war broadcasting and the contested geopolitics of south asia". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 28 (4): 537–555. doi:10.1080/01439680802310324. S2CID 192197510.
  6. ^ "Deccan Herald". Retrieved 11 September 2009.[dead link]
  7. ^ Bhat, Sheela. "The BBC cannot see the difference between a criminal and a terrorist". Rediff.com. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  8. ^ Sharma, Mihir S. (3 December 2008). "British Biased Corporation? Terrorists in London, gunmen in Mumbai". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  9. ^ "Biased Broadcasting Corp also known as BBC". The Pioneer. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  10. ^ Akbar, M. J. (22 December 2008). "Biting the BBC bullet". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  11. ^ "BBC flayed for not terming Mumbai gunmen as terrorists". The Indian Express. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  12. ^ Rai, Ajai K. (June 2000). "Conflict Situations and the Media: A Critical Look". Strategic Analysis. Routledge (Taylor and Francis Group). 24 (3): 585–601. doi:10.1080/09700160008455233. S2CID 145094564.
  13. ^ Bennett-Jones, Owen (24 June 2015). "Pakistan's MQM 'received Indian funding'". BBC News. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Pakistan's MQM militants being funded by India's RAW, claims controversial BBC report – Firstpost". 25 June 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  15. ^ Dawn.com (24 June 2015). "India provided funds to MQM, claims BBC report". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  16. ^
  17. ^ "BBC coverage biased, say British Hindus". The Indian Express. 2 March 2004. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  18. ^ Singh, W. Rorrkychand (30 March 2012). "BBC Calls Holi A 'Filthy Festival'". International Business Times. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  19. ^ "BBC sees ghost in BHU's 'Bhoot Vidya', gets panned". The Times of India. 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  20. ^ Madison Park and Harmeet Shah Singh (4 March 2015). "Indian court bans controversial interview with convicted rapist". CNN. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Kaziranga film: BBC banned for 5 years from all national parks, sanctuaries". The Indian Express. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
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