Sudarshan News fabricates communal angle, blames ‘Jihadis’ for temple desecration in Maharashtra

by Prantik Ali

Sudarshan News on September 22 ran a segment where the channel’s deputy editor, Pradosh Chavhanke, alleged that ‘Jihadis’ desecrated a Shiva temple dating back 1,200 years in Anwa, in Maharashtra’s Jalna district, by throwing meat and bones in the premises. He also said Muslims wanted to spread outrage among Hindus by doing this during the auspicious festival of Navratri.

The incident took place on September 21 and Chavhanke broadcast it with commentary on his show ‘Jaago‘ the following day. He also posted a clip of his show on X with a rhetorical question on whether the Hindu faith was in danger. Throughout the clip, he uses the term ‘Jihadi‘ to refer to Muslims derogatorily. The pro-Hindutva media channel and its managing director and editor-in-chief, Suresh Chavhanke, have, in the past, disseminated copious amounts of communal propaganda and misinformation targeting minorities.  (Archive)

At one point in the show, Pradosh Chavhanke also uses the term ‘mleccha‘ to refer to the purported Muslim perpetrators. The term was used in ancient Sanskrit texts for ‘barbarians’, or ‘foreigners’ who were not Hindus.

The same clip was also shared by Instagram user Navin Kumar.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Navin Kumar (@navin5961kumar)

 

Sudarshan News broadcast another segment on the incident, where a different anchor also used the term ‘Jihadi‘ on several occasions to refer to the perpetrators. She went on to say that Hindu residents had come together to show their resistance against this heinous attack, calling it an affront to the Hindu faith.

Sudarshan News Maharashtra also ran a segment on the temple desecration incident, blaming ‘Jihadis‘ for trying to anger the Hindu community.

We also came across a Facebook reel, depicting a mass mobilisation of Hindu residents of the area gathered  to call for a village bandh (strike) to protest the blasphemous incident and demanding prompt action against those responsible.

Fact Check

To understand what happened, we ran a relevant keyword search on Google and found a report by news agency PTI dated September 24, 2025.

According to this, the accused was identified as Nandkishor Wadgaonkar. He reportedly committed the act after being denied permission by local authorities to construct a house near the Shiva temple.

The PTI report was also shared by The Print on the same day, corroborating that the accused, who had been taken into custody, was a Hindu man by the name of Nandishkor Wadgaonkar.

We also came across a press brief, dated September 23, where assistant police inspector Santosh Mane, from Paradh police station, falling under the Jalna Police, addressed the incident which transpired on September 21 at the Hemadpanthi Shiva Mahadev Temple. He said that the accused, by the name of Nandkishor Wadgaonkar, was taken into custody based on CCTV evidence.

Thus, Sudarshan News broadcast communally charged shows to wrongly suggest that Muslim perpetrators deliberately threw pieces of animal meat and bone within the premises of a Shiva temple in Maharashtra to instigate the Hindu community. There is no communal angle in the incident, and, based on police statements and news reports, a Hindu man by the name of Nandkishor S Wadgaonkar was behind the incident. He reportedly did so to retaliate against the local administration because he was not allotted land near the temple premises. The media outlet blatantly fabricated a communal angle to fan hatred towards a community.

Interestingly, the electronic media channel, which has broadcast several vitriolic communal shows on ‘job jihad’, ‘sherbet jihad’ ‘bhujia jihad’ and ‘UPSC jihad’ in the past, recently received approval from the Ministry of Education to train 100 interns under its Indian Knowledge System initiative’s “Edutainment Sciences” theme. According to a report by Newslaundry, it will receive at least Rs 15 lakh from the ministry, which is taxpayers’ money, to pay each intern Rs 10,000, with Sudarshan News pocketing Rs 5,000 per intern.

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