The News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority has pulled up NDTV for using the term “thook jihad” in a report on an alleged food contamination incident in Meerut, saying the phrase amounted to religious stereotyping and violated broadcast guidelines.
The self regulatory body said the channel’s December 2024 broadcast wrongly generalised the incident and suggested, without evidence, that similar acts were taking place elsewhere.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by advocate Utkarsh Mishra over a viral video allegedly showing a man spitting on rotis while preparing them. NDTV’s report described the incident as “thook jihad”; a term often used in Hindutva discourse alleging Muslims deliberately contaminate food consumed by Hindus.
In its defence, NDTV told the regulator that the report focused on public health and anti-social behaviour, and that the phrase reflected public discourse rather than targeting any community. The channel also said it had voluntarily removed the content.
But the regulator, headed by retired Justice A.K. Sikri, said the use of the word “jihad” itself carried a clear communal reference even if no community was named directly.
While noting that the alleged incident was serious and deserved coverage, the authority said portraying it as part of a wider pattern without substantiation breached norms against racial and religious stereotyping.
The regulator did not impose any penalty because the programme had already been taken down, but cautioned NDTV against using such “sweeping generalisations” in future broadcasts.
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