{"id":289954,"date":"2024-09-17T19:02:35","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T13:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=289954"},"modified":"2024-09-18T00:56:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T19:26:17","slug":"hate-crimes-in-haryana-maharashtra-a-no-show-on-republic-how-did-the-other-mainstream-news-channels-fare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/hate-crimes-in-haryana-maharashtra-a-no-show-on-republic-how-did-the-other-mainstream-news-channels-fare\/","title":{"rendered":"Hate crimes in Haryana, Maharashtra a no-show on Republic; how did the other mainstream news channels fare?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trigger Warning: Violence<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the last week of August, two horrific hate crimes against Muslims \u2014 the lynching of 25-year-old Sabir Malik in Haryana and the brutal assault on 72-year-old Haji Ashraf in a train in Maharashtra \u2014 sent shock waves across the country. However, many of the mainstream TV news channels, which air fiery debates on communal issues on a regular basis, either chose to ignore them completely in their prime-time segments or barely mentioned them.<\/p>\n

While Republic TV chose not to report any of the hate crimes, let alone host prime-time debates on them, channels like NDTV, Aaj Tak and Times Now barely mentioned the incidents, but did not consider them important enough to be discussed on prime-time shows hosted by ‘star’ anchors. India Today and Zee News, in sharp contrast, hosted prime-time debates and reported on the hate crimes in depth.<\/p>\n

Sabir Malik Lynched in Haryana on the Suspicion of Cooking and Consuming Beef<\/b><\/h4>\n

On August 27, 25-year-old Sabir Malik, a Muslim migrant worker from West Bengal, was allegedly beaten to death in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district by members of a self-proclaimed ‘cow-vigilante’ group on the suspicion of cooking and consuming beef<\/strong>. Eight people, including two minors, were arrested for the assault. The incident gained widespread attention after a horrifying video of the lynching went viral on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u0938\u094d\u0925\u093e\u0928: #Haryana<\/a><\/p>\n

BIG BREAKING: \u092c\u0947\u0939\u0926 \u0939\u0940 \u0916\u0924\u0930\u0928\u093e\u0915 \u0914\u0930 \u0935\u093f\u091a\u0932\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0935\u093e\u0932\u093e \u0939\u093e\u0926\u0938\u093e<\/p>\n

\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0935\u0940\u092f\u0924\u093e \u0915\u093f\u0938 \u0915\u0926\u0930 \u0926\u092e \u0924\u094b\u0921\u093c \u091a\u0941\u0915\u0940 \u0939\u0948<\/p>\n

\u0939\u0930\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0923\u093e \u091a\u0930\u0916\u0940 \u0926\u093e\u0926\u0930\u0940 \u092e\u0947 \u0917\u094b\u092e\u093e\u0902\u0938 \u092a\u0915\u093e\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0936\u0915 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0938\u093e\u0935\u093f\u0930 \u092e\u093e\u0932\u093f\u0915 \u0915\u0940 \u092a\u0940\u091f-\u092a\u0940\u091f\u0915\u0930 \u0939\u0924\u094d\u092f\u093e \u0915\u0930 \u0926\u0940 \u0917\u0908<\/p>\n

\u0939\u0924\u094d\u092f\u093e \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0935\u093e\u0932\u0947 \u0905\u092d\u093f\u0937\u0947\u0915, \u092e\u094b\u0939\u093f\u0924, \u0930\u0935\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0930, \u0915\u092e\u0932\u091c\u0940\u0924 \u0914\u0930 \u0938\u093e\u0939\u093f\u0932 \u0928\u093e\u092e\u0940 \u0917\u094c\u0930\u0915\u094d\u0937\u093e \u0926\u0932 \u0915\u0947 \u0920\u0947\u0915\u0947\u0926\u093e\u0930\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/SnA9g8rwSx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Today Maharashtra (@todaymaharasht) August 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the video, some men are seen beating Sabir with thick wooden sticks, while others attempt to intervene. According to reports<\/a>, the attackers subsequently took Malik to another location and continued to beat him up, ultimately leading to his death. Malik, who lived in a shanty near Bandhra village, earned a living by collecting waste and empty bottles. He and his friend Asserudin were lured to a shop near the bus stand by a group of young men under the pretence of selling scrap materials. When they arrived, they were ambushed with sticks. Asserudin managed to escape, but Malik was abducted by the vigilantes, taken away on a motorbike, and beaten to death. His lifeless body was later found near his shanty.<\/span><\/p>\n

News reports quoted<\/a> Charkhi Dadri DSP Bharat Bhushan saying: \u201cAll eight accused, including two juveniles, are associated with Gau Raksha Dal. They had informed the police about their suspicions, and we were investigating when the killing took place\u201d. This suggests that despite police involvement in the matter, the eight individuals of a self-proclaimed \u2018gau raksha\u2019 group acted on their suspicions, which led to Sabir’s death. Commenting on the said incident, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini said: \u201cMob lynching is not a right thing. But there is great respect for cows and at times, people of the village react when such an input comes. But I stress that such incidents of lynching are unfortunate and should not happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Haji Ashraf Assaulted in Maharashtra Train on the Suspicion of <\/strong><\/span>Carrying Beef<\/strong><\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n

A day after Sabir\u2019s alleged murder, on August 28, 72-year-old Ashraf Ali Syed Hussain, who had boarded the Dhule-CSMT Express and was on his way to visit his daughter in Kalyan, Maharashtra was heckled and assaulted<\/a> by a group of men, on the suspicion of <\/strong><\/span>carrying beef<\/strong> (cow meat). The assailants were reportedly on their way to a police recruitment exam. Ashraf claimed he was carrying buffalo meat which was not illegal in Maharashtra. A few days later, videos of the attack went viral on social media, showing the men slapping and kicking the elderly man while hurling abuses at him. The assault left Ashraf with a bloodshot eye and bruises.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Haji Ashraf Munyar from a village in Jalgaon District travelling in a train to Kalyan to meet his daughter was abused and badly beaten up by goons in a train near Igatpuri alleging him of carrying beef. pic.twitter.com\/uOr3vlqBqB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) August 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Haji Ashraf\u2019s son Ashpak told <\/span>The Hindu<\/span><\/a>, \u201cThey punched him repeatedly in the face, chest, stomach, and private parts, and made threats to kill him, and rape the women in his family.\u201d He also alleged that the group even attempted to throw his father off the moving train. Ashpak learned about the assault through a friend who sent him the video on WhatsApp, as Haji Ashraf did not mention the incident when he arrived at his daughter\u2019s home. Ashpak added that his father had been unable to sleep, humiliated and deeply shaken by the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 31, after the video gained attention, Maharashtra police tracked Ashraf and convinced him to file an FIR. That same day, three suspects \u2014 Akash Ahwad, Nilesh Ahire, and Jayesh Mohite \u2014 were arrested and charged under the following bailable sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS):189(2) (unlawful assembly), 191(2) (rioting), 190 (unlawful assembly in prosecution of common object), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 115(2) (causing hurt), 324(4)(5) (mischief causing loss or damage), 351(2)(3)(criminal intimidation), and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace). It is important to note that the initial FIR did not include hate crime charges. The next day, the trio was produced at a Kalyan court and were granted bail.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same day, Nationalist Congress Party leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad stepped in and questioned why hate crime and robbery charges had not been included in the FIR. On September 2, senior police inspector Archana Dusane of GRP filed an appeal to amend the FIR with Sections 302 (intentionally uttering words to deliberately wound the religious sentiments of another person) and 311(Robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt). The court granted the appeal, leading to the cancellation of the suspects’ bail. However, the three men went into hiding and are currently absconding.<\/span><\/p>\n

On September 3, the Thane GRP arrested a fourth suspect, 19-year-old Suresh Jadhav, a Navi Mumbai resident and hotel cashier, for his alleged role in the assault.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How the Mainstream TV Media Reported It<\/b><\/h4>\n

Both the incidents involving Sabir Malik and Haji Ashraf gained significant traction on social media, leading to widespread coverage on digital and print media, as well as some YouTube news channels. The Times of India, for example, front-paged both the reports on its September 1 Delhi edition:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

However, when we went through the bulletins by major television news channels from August 27 onward, we found that both the stories were notably absent from the prime-time shows on Republic World, Republic Bharat, NDTV, Times Now, Times Now Navbharat, Aaj Tak and ABP News. A few of them <\/span>remained completely silent on both the hate crimes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Republic TV<\/b><\/h4>\n

Sabir Malik Lynching: Zero Shows, Haji Ashraf Assault: Zero Shows<\/strong><\/p>\n

Republic World\u2019s digital outlet published a <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> on August 31 on the assault on Haji Ashraf, and on September 1, the outlet published a <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> on Sabir Malik\u2019s death. We reviewed both the English (Republic World) and Hindi (Republic Bharat) channels of Arnab Goswami\u2019s Republic Media but found no coverage on either of the two channels of either incident from August 27 (the date of Sabir Malik’s death) up until the time of writing of this report. Goswami, we found, was busy ‘destroying secular hypocrites’.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 31, as the video of the assault on Haji Ashraf spread across social media and was picked up by various media outlets, Arnab Goswami hosted his prime-time show, \u2018The Debate with Arnab\u2019. The nearly 30-minute episode<\/a> was titled: “1984 Sikh Riots: Arnab Destroys Secularism Hypocrites | Rahul and Kejriwal in Radio Silence.” In the days that followed, Republic World\u2019s prime-time segments continued to focus primarily on the R G Kar rape-murder in Kolkata and other issues in states governed by parties from the INDIA alliance and comments made by Opposition leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below are a few screenshots that show what the prime-time at Republic World aired between August 30 and September 4.<\/p>\n