UK media watchdog exposed Indian smear campaign against Pakistan: Shibli

Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz said that the British media regulatory authority had exposed the India’s anti-Pakistan propaganda based on hatred after it penalised Republic TV earlier this week.

Ofcom, the UK government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, had slapped a fine of £20,000 on India’s fiercely nationalist and popular Republic Television for broadcasting hate speech against Pakistan.

In a detailed verdict, Ofcom said that Republic Bharat’s Poochta Hai Bharat programme – the evening primetime show hosted by controversial Arnab Goswami – had failed to comply with its broadcasting rules, THE WIRE reported.

“[Ofcom] action is further manifestation of India's disgrace at the international level as [EU] Disinfo Lab had already uncovered its network spreading anti-Pakistan campaign based on lies,” the minister said in a tweet on Thursday.

According to an investigation by the EU DisinfoLab, a Brussels-based NGO, a coordinated influence operation, to malign Pakistan’s reputation, is being led by the New Delhi-based Srivastava Group and amplified by Asia News International (ANI), an Indian news agency.

The operation’s mission is to discredit nations in conflict with India in the region, in particular Pakistan and also China to a certain extent. In the long run, the campaign is aimed at bolstering India’s global perception, which will ultimately allow New Delhi to bag more support from international institutions such as the EU and the UN.

“India in fact itself is a hub of terrorism and extremism, Shibli added.

According to Ofcom, an episode, shown on September 6, 2019, featured “comments made by the host and some of his guests that amounted to hate speech against Pakistani people, and derogatory and abusive treatment of Pakistani people. The content was also potentially offensive and not sufficiently justified by the context.”